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Will MITx Disrupt Higher Education?

December 20, 2011, 7:53 am

By Robert Talbert

MIT has been doing online access to education a lot longer than most people, largely due to their invaluable OpenCourseWare project. (Here’s an interview MIT did with me last year on how OCW strongly influenced my inverted-classroom MATLAB course.) Now they are poised to go to the next level by launching an online system called MITx in Spring 2012 that provides credentialing as well as content:

Mr. Reif and Anant Agarwal, director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, said M.I.T.x would start this spring — perhaps with just one course — but would expand to include many more courses, as OpenCourseWare has done. [...]

The M.I.T.x classes, he said, will have online discussions and forums where students can ask questions and, often, have them answered by others in the class.

While access to the software will be free, there will most likely be an “affordable” charge, not yet determined, for a credential.

“I think for someone to feel they’re earning something, they ought to pay something, but the point is to make it extremely affordable,” Mr. Reif said. “The most important thing is that it’ll be a certificate that will clearly state that a body sanctioned by M.I.T. says you have gained mastery.”

The official FAQ reveals a couple of additional points. First, the content of MITx courses will be free — which seems to imply that MITx course content will be different than OCW course content, and not just a certification layer on top of existing resources — and you’ll only pay money for the certificate. Second, there will be no admissions process. If you want a course, you just take it and then pay for the credentialing if you feel like you’re up to it.

I think this last point about having no admissions process may be the most significant piece of MITx. It seems to represent a complete shift from the traditional way of providing access to higher education. As far as I can tell, there will not even be a system of checking prerequisites for MITx courses. If that’s so, then if you feel you can step into, say, an Algorithms class and keep up with the material and demonstrate your mastery, then nobody at MIT will care if you haven’t had the right courses in basic programming, data structures, discrete math, or whatever. MIT is basically saying, we won’t be picky about who we let take these courses — if you can afford it and live up to our standards, we’re happy to credential you.

Of course there are a lot of questions about MITx that are yet to be answered. What is the “modest fee” they plan to charge, and is it really affordable? How exactly will the credentialing process work? (It’s interesting that the certification will be handled by a non-profit organization to be formed within MIT. Is this a kind of outsourcing of grading?) How will one “demonstrate mastery” and what will MITx define as “mastery” in courses that are not strictly skills-based? Will there eventually be a full enough slate of courses offered to make the whole system compelling for learners? And perhaps most importantly, what will employers, graduate schools, and even undergraduate institutions make of applicants who come in with some of these MITx certifications? Without external buy-in, MITx will likely be just another continuing education program like hundreds of others.

We’ll hear a lot more about this in the future, but for now this seems to have the potential to be genuinely disruptive in higher education. What do you think?

Image:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/timony/

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  • http://gasstationwithoutpumps.wordpress.com/ gasstationwithoutpumps

    It will probably end up like the University of California Extension courses—accepted as “just another continuing education program” but not the equivalent of a real degree.  Stanford and MIT seem to be experimenting with scaling up a few of their courses by having free online versions, but it is not clear whether this will remain popular past the first year or two (with students or with the universities).

    • mgozaydin

      You are right gass station . I also appreciated what you have done . Yes Stanford is also doing great things. I hıope they will get lessons from MIT too .

      I also  pray  the project would prosper .

  • misanthropic789

    What would become compelling is if the assessments are seen as sufficiently rigorous to function similar to CLEP or other test-out programs.  Then even if a degree weren’t being issued there would be substantial value to both the students and other universities.  

    If this is implemented in such a way that the assessments are rigorous enough to allow students to get waivers for courses, this could be a huge success.  The big difference is that, unlike CLEP, MIT will be providing the study materials as well.

  • solidagojuncea

    MIT’s Provost (sorry, can’t recall his name) gave lengthy interviews on Boston NPR stations.  This whole project has at least two laudable goals: serving the many students for whom MIT has no room, and experimenting with educational technology that can be used with all students, residential and remote.  Many of MIT’s courses already have material available on line.  Now students can try to do the work for a certificate.  It may be “disruptive” in some ways, but I suspect it will be highly informative disruption!  I look forward to seeing what we can all learn from MIT’s efforts.  

    • mgozaydin

      MIT has been reaching to 300,000,000 sudents in the world now.
      They will be taking all courses offerred while American are debating and deciding if that is good or bad .

  • interface

    When free high-quality education for all is a reality in 63 years, MIT will have a place among the saints for having planted the seeds.

    • joncrispin

      Would this be the free education we all receive for 12 years now? Notice I left off quality.

      chris

  • id3ego2

    I am not sure the end result of the “final degree” is what is potentially most useful for these courses.  I see students time and time again locked into majors or concentrations they chose the second half of their freshman year; they are no longer happy with nor do they really want to complete them, but they are compelled to–by mainly financial factors or parental pressure.   

    This set of online courses has the potential to allow students to select a “higher-level” course or courses within their concentration to see if they really want to go down “that” road.  A bit of extra work, perhaps, but I’d imagine a happier student and better overall educational outcome in the long run.

  • teachfordamasses

    If MIT can find a way to solve the problem of knowing that the person being credentialed is the same person who demonstrated mastery ONLINE, that in itself will be a boon to us all who struggle with this issue.  ABSENT that integrity assurance, the credential will always be subject to question, as are all of our online credentials.

    • stephen_said

      I assume (I know what happens when you assume!) that one would be required to take the mastery test at some authorized proctor like Sylvan, or a local college.  Surely there will be some sort of check and balance.

      • mgozaydin

        No need for proctors.
        There are no tests any more. There is  automated essay grading. That is answers are sentences, they are evaluated by the computer. If structor of that sentence is not at the characteristic of that person he may be rejected immediately too. This is my guess.

    • mgozaydin

      Do not worry. Technology can find a way . MIT is cabaple to find a way to do it .

  • educationfrontlines

    If watching “course material,” even in a programmed sequence, and engaging in classmate chit chat and taking a test was actual education, the U.S. would today be light years ahead of other countries due to our 1960s televised “Continental Classroom” style “education” reform. It was a proven failure.

    An examination (and studying for an exam) is not an education.  It is a present disaster for K-12 teach-to-the-test NCLB. And we rightly hold to our requirements for medical and law school before students take the medical boards or bar exams. MIT is rightly renowned for research, but not for  education.      

  • jessekrosen

    Until they come up with a reliable way to insure that the online work was done by the person requesting certification, what will that certification be worth?

    • stephen_said

      Even with EXTREME confidence in measuring the ability of the person taking the certification, what is it worth?  This is a new frontier.  How will that Cert transfer to the next college?  Will a person be able to ‘earn’ an online degree with all of those certs?  This is all new.

      This paranoia is EXACTLY what we don’t need.  This is a small issue, and an easy one to resolve.  There has always been, and always will be cheats.  We shouldn’t hold these online students to a higher standard than we hold on campus students.

      • mgozaydin

        As an employer I would hire an MITx Certificate holder  more then many good colleges too.
        MIT is not after money. If they were they would not  be  MIT .
        Automated essay grading system will eliminate cheating 100 % . Believe technology. Technology knows what you are thinking too. be careful from now on .
        In fact get scared of technology if you do not have good will .

    • joncrispin

      How do they currently insure that “onground” work is done by the person who’s name is on the paper? The last lecture hall I was in during undergraduate days had 0 insurance the work with my name on it was being completed by me.

      chris

    • http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines Robert Talbert

      This is a real concern, but as other commenters point out, it’s a concern in traditional classroom settings as well, and it’s a concern that is probably never going to go away fully in any academic setting. It may be easier, in fact, to prevent academic dishonesty in an MITx style setting where the student work can at least be proctored. 

      Speaking of which, @chronicle-5ab1ea21ea2379769e60f633c6ecd8af:disqus  makes a good point about using third-party proctors to administer exams. A lot of those businesses are Sylvan learning centers in the evenings and exam-proctoring services in the morning, and they do a booming business. I wonder if that’s going to be part of the mission of the nonprofit body that MIT is forming? If so, there might be some questions about the propriety and conflict of interest (proctoring organization is a subsidiary of the institution with a stake in students passing their exams?) but it does make a certain amount of sense.

      • mgozaydin

        Please do not be that pessimist . It is too early to talk of proctors .
        Do not worry they will find a technology for that too .
        Do you know  automated essay grading . No more tests .

    • mgozaydin

      I am an employer. I will accept that as if it is an MIT BA degree .
      So many will do the same . It is a matter of trust to MIT  . It is not one of those for profit colleges.

  • MorningSunshine

    Small beginnings suggest a solid incubation for this design. This kind of disruption began more than ten years ago with the initiation of Western Governors University. Degree frameworks were established, with assessments for each module within the degree. Students were free to acquire learning to master the content standards wherever they chose. Tremendous potential for scaling up higher education. This is the perfect complement, but it retains the same essential autonomy for the learner, with potential for social interaction to boot!  Even better, no admission limitations; no time pressure for completion. Just the human limitation of brain rust from memory decay. The indifference of this initiative places total responsibility on the learner. Now if they can only develop a fool-proof method of confirming identity in assessments, and this will be able to grow to enormous proportions. Superb potential!

    • http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines Robert Talbert

      MITx does remind me a lot of the “competency-based” approach that WGU uses. That’s why I wonder what areas MITx will eventually cover. WGU tends toward areas that are skill-based and therefore fairly straightforward to certify. Traditional academic disciplines like math or chemistry aren’t represented in the degrees they offer (although there are some individual courses in those areas). Will MITx attempt to just duplicate WGU or are they trying to map WGU’s approach onto more traditional disciplines? We’ll see.

      • mgozaydin

        Dear Robert
        I also like WGU very much.  How can we support tham please tell me .

        • http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines Robert Talbert

          WGU is a business, so I guess take some courses if you want to support them. 

        • mgozaydin

          OK I will donate instead of taking a course .

    • mgozaydin

      Dear Morning
      I am glad you knowalso Western Governers University so nice project but not fully understood by people.
      I really apprecited your carefullness. During the assessment ” how are you sure of identity of the person ”
      You are right. But I am sure MIT found a solution to that too.
      More nice features  you mentioned too .
      No time pressure, no admission limitation, no limits to number of registration
      This is just a revolution.
      I hope somebody will not trip the foot .

  • http://twitter.com/AliHock Alison Hockenberry

    I predict 2012 will be the year of radical, disruptive change in higher education. Thank you, MIT (and others)!

    • mgozaydin

      Dear Alison
      Then let us support this in every platform.

      There will be many unhappy people who would try to trip the foot of this wonderful project .

  • wayne_detzler

    This is truly a giant step forward in education. Not only does one ask about prerequisites, but one must also ask about the educational outcome. Will these courses appear on some sort of transcript from MIT? Is there a testing procedure to see whether or not the viewer has actually comprehended the material.

    • mgozaydin

      There will be an assessment procedure for the people who would like to get a certificate .
      To me it is same as an exam for the degree programs .

  • http://www.facebook.com/alexander.sidorkin Alexander Sidorkin

    Like with all other disruptive innovations, this thing will probably not work as well as the old higher education model. There does not seem to be a market for it. It conflicts with what Christensen calls “value networks” within higher education. However, if employers start taking these certificates seriously, even in very few fields, this may become a classic case of disruptive innovation. 

    • mgozaydin

      MIT has been known by 300,000,000 people in the world through OCW project since 2001
      I say there will be million of registrations from all over the world first India and China.
      But people like you will evaluate if it is good or bad,
      If course fee is only $ 10 MIT will collect more than $ 1 billion a year .
      WE, employers,  will value a MITx certificate same as MIT BA degree.

      I hope somebody, thinking like you negatively, will not trip the foot.

    • mgozaydin

      Dear Alaxander
      300,000,000 students all over the world know MIT very well. They have contacts for more than a year through OCW initiatives. MIT provides free for 10 years .
      I predicts number of registration will be 100,000,000 within 10 years . But in the USA number may not be very high since you will be debating it is good or bad.

      We, employers, love to give jobs to MITx certificate holders rather than those very famous online for profit schools .

  • jobowen

    What is wrong with some “disruption” in higher education? Higher Ed can certainly use any kind of paradigm shift that offers itself. Most educators would rather beat the dead horse of who’s-on-first  with respect to identity confirmation than discuss the innovative notions behind this move.  More power to MIT.

  • mbelvadi

    I’m really happy that an institution as prestigious as MIT is going to open the discussion about evaluating “mastery” in such a big way. From much of the discussion in CHE comments, I get the impression that assessing mastery of the actual material of the course isn’t at the top of the list of many professors’ reasons for assigning weights and grades to various assignments. 

    If you assign a major paper (in a non-composition course!), for which an A or B grade might be earned while only overlapping the content of at most one of 16 different lectures/classes, and give it a weight of more than 1/16 (6%) of the final grade, you’re complicit in the problem and probably can’t imagine how MIT could succeed at this endeavor.

  • arrive2__net

    Clearly all higher education classes rely upon some kind of assessment that forms the basis for saying the student did or did not master the material sufficiently and pass the class.  The validity and authenticity of the assessment is much more important than the setting, classroom or online.    None-the-less it obviously is critical that the person who takes the assessment is the same one who gets the grade and certificate.

    It is interesting that CLEP testing has been raised in this context.  It seems to me that a system allied with or integrated with CLEP could be workable.  It’s possible that that system could have greater integrity than the traditional classroom assessment because IDs are checked and the people and computers conducting the assessment are truly likely to be unbiased. 

    MIT’s credibility and prestige combined with open admission and low cost, if it all is brought together, could make MITx some kind of world standard for tech credentialing … but can/will they to it that?  If it is disruptive innovation, MIT could be disrupted too.  How deep could such a disruption be.  Maybe it will become a parallel to Microsoft Certification, so students made take classroom or online classes at other institutions to prepare for the MITx.  Since students will likely still need other preparatory classes to get ready for the MITx classes,  MITx could stimulate the creation of more (classroom or online) higher education if winning the certificates could become an incentive to learn. 

    Another detail of the MITx I didn’t see in this article is the plan for mechanized grading of essays.  I have to question how such a thoroughly mechanized institution will work out, even if it does provide for students chatting with each other. MITx could turn out to be highly important and innovative, yet still remain small.  

    Bart Schuster
    OnlineGraduateSchool.tripod.com
    Twitter.com/arrive2_net

    • mgozaydin

      Thanks Bart for your serious comments .
      It is a distrupted project not innovation .
      I hope it will not be distruptive to MIT.
      But MIT is very careful to keep MIT name .
      To me MIT is having 2 universities
      1.- Research university   . Today as it is
      2.- Teaching university . Teaching people to gain skills and at the make living 
           New MITx is that .  Even I call it TIM .

      MITx certificate will be as good as a MIT BA . We, employers , do not doubt about that .
      Everything should be online .

      You did not miss one point :
      Automated Essay Grading.  That technologt has been developed by MIT and they say they will use it at MITx . It ias much better than tests .
      There will be great demand from outside of USA from India, China, Europe by millions.
      I suggested to MIT to charge $ 10 per course. If registered people are 5-10  million it would make with several courses more than $ 1 billion income a year .

      I call this a revolution. I hope somebody would trip the foot . 

      • arrive2__net

        If your prediction of the future turns out to be correct, that will be OK with me. If this innovation achieves that level of influence it will certainly open doors of opportunity for many, and provide an incentive to acquire the skills needed to pass the certificates. However, there seems to be a lot of unknowns in MITx right now, for example, do the certificates certify passing a course or some combination of courses as to constitute an “occupational certificate”. Difficulty level could be another issue; it seems to me that MIT is likely to hold certificate winners to
        a very high standard. In order for the certificates to be as powerful as they
        might be, MIT will have to assure the certificate assessments do not become
        team efforts, with perhaps teams of co-workers, or families, helping candidates
        (and one another) make it through the assessment.

        Of course there are a lot of online undergraduate certificate programs online now. They do not seem to have taken over the market. I wonder if the cost difference in the MIT certificate program will be enough to change that. Certificate programs have not taken over the bachelor’s degree market either. Bachelor degrees represent a much broader array of skills and abilities.

        One difference between MITx and traditional higher education is that the traditional transcript includes courses the student didn’t pass, but a MITx ‘test only’ certificate program would seem to exclude classes dropped or assessments not passed. That might not be all bad. I wonder if candidates will be able to take the assessment and decide whether to buy the certificate afterwards, or if they have to pay for the certificate/assessment first, then take the assessment to see if they can pass it.

        Bart Schuster
        OnlineGraduateSchool.tripod.com
        Twitter.com/arrive2_net

        • mgozaydin

          You are right

          Surely certificate should be for a set of courses .
          I suggested for 20 courses taken MITx AA Certificate, for 40 courses MITx BA Certificate .
          Is there anything wrong that way . I hope MIT will follow me .

          1.- It will be very distruptive to existing  online programs of  colleges. Particularley I wonder what PennState will do . They are the most expensive online providers although they are the best too . Other 3,000 colleges I wonder a lot . Particularly damage will be until MITx is fully operating . So many people just will drop from existing courses .

          2.- I suggested MITx  if one has taken 20 courses he should have  MITx AA Certificate if he has taken 40 courses he should take MITx BA Certificate .

          3.-  Level of difficulty of courses. Today MIT accepts students with 800 SAT scores. Since MITx will be a teaching university rather than a research university required SAT should be 600 scores or so .

          4:-  If a student did not pass an exam that can be shown in his certificate , but is it really necessary .

          5.- Identification of the student is important. I am sure MIT can find a technology for the assurance of identity of the student. Do not worry the family helping the students. Exams will be all open books and open families since they will not know anything about the course . Somebody may  go behind the red line, so it be . Let that student ashamed of himself . He could not find a job with that ethics anyhow . Plus exams are not tests anymore. Real sentences will be evaluated .

    • arrive2__net

      I just wanted to mention that more recently the computer grading of essays got more credibility from the recent competition between essay grading systems:   http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2012/04/computer_v_human_who_wins_the.html

  • fortunalia

    This will bring much needed disruptive change. You will soon see this type of thing happening across the country and
    the planet. You will see star professors strike out on their own to
    teach online. A certificate of proficiency will soon be as valuable as a
    BA. With time, fatuous degrees like comparative literature and gender
    studies, to name two, will be worth little more than the paper they are
    written on. http://fortunalia.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/m-i-t-a-la-carte/

    • mgozaydin

      You are great fortunalia
      Yes under the star 5 million people from all over the world registered to MITx.
      But our teachers  are saying is i t pedogogical, is there human touch, is there eye contact, is there socialising is it passionate enough .
      MIT has already 300,000,000 contacts in the world through OCW

  • rhoccrim

    The new paradigm follows the path of the internet; information is available for the asking. It is commercialized in both for profits and not for profits through control of the delivery, certification, course structure, instructor and standards of the process. Like many websites; advertising, sponsors or another form of subsidy can pay for the low cost digital delivery of the data. Like expiring copyrights or recovery of R & D investments, the courses are like generic drugs, low cost alternatives with similar effect.  What scares those involved with traditional delivery of college level courses is that we have long tried to link the certification of intelligence with awarding of degrees. This MIT project uncouples this.

  • http://www.facebook.com/digitalhap Hap Aziz

    This will indeed be one of the $64k questions in the coming year, especially as institutions struggle with and revisit their own online program strategies. Content development can put a strain on instructional design resources. I touch on the topic as well on my blog at http://wp.me/p1PsvM-5M. What will make 2012 especially interesting is the potential impact SOPA will have on the free-flow of content, academic or otherwise. It’s noteworthy that folks from MIT signed a letter to Congress protesting the legislation.

  • http://twitter.com/MSUTTIGroup MSUTTIGroup

    It will be very interesting to see how MIT’s new free online learning initiative takes off in the spring.

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