MOOCs: vital tools in education of the future – or over-hyped online fad?

By Sarah Chappell. When Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) first emerged around a decade ago – the term ‘MOOC’ itself first started to be used in 2008 – they were trumpeted as the future of learning. They would transform education by opening up courses to people all over the world. All that was needed to join this educational revolution was a computer, in some cases just a smartphone, and an Internet connection. More...