(553) DEMOCRATIZING EDUCATION: FROM OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES TO MASSSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES. THE CURRENT SITUATION OF UNIVERSITAT POLIT?CNICA DE VAL?NCIA

摘要

The democratization of education has become a key issue on the agenda of all countries today. Theemergence of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) philosophy, the development of related andrelevant communication technologies, and the methodological change for teaching and learning cangenerate a shift in the current educational paradigm in higher education institutions. The openresource philosophy that originated in 2002 is now expanding worldwide via MOOCs. For students,the chance to gain free, open access to top academics from prestigious institutions in a dynamicenvironment, and share experiences with other students from all four corners of the world representshuge added value. For an institution, making contact with highly motivated, participative internationalstudents presents an opportunity to extend its brand on the world stage, capture new students, and,additionally, test and develop innovative learning initiatives in virtual environments.In this scenario, MOOCs offer a qualitatively differentiated educational alternative, have growingdemand around the globe, and enjoy an exponential increase in people making use of them. However,because of MOOCs unrestricted and voluminous availability, including some options that lack rigor,relevance, quality or clear student authentication, several degree-granting institutions are havingserious concerns when issuing academic credit for MOOCs. Additionally, the potentially dubiousquality of some MOOCs is also negatively affecting the overall perception of fee-paying online andopen courses and could also produce a market contraction.In this context, we pursue a twofold objective: to analyze the positive and negative aspects of MOOCsand to perform an analysis of the current situation at the Polytechnic University of Valencia based onthe classification made by "Arbaugh and Benbunan-Fich (2006-2007).