Massive Open Online Courses: Challenges and Opportunities for Education in India

In the era of technology and globalization, there has been increased access to higher education especially in developed countries and it is expected that as the number of opportunities increases, the tendency for new uncertainties and challenges also increases. In recent years, a simple Google search on MOOCs will return several thousands of links owing to the fact that the concept of online learning has expanded to include a growing number of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs, a recent trend in distance learning has swept across Europe and America like an avalanche coupled to the fact that all prestigious universities and reputed institutes across the world are actively involved. Since its inception, there have been web portal (such as edX, Udacity etc) that offer courses for free or with little fee. These courses follow formats that have open ended time schedules and ones that are available for a span of a regular semester. The marvel of this type of instruction is that the course instructors could be tenured professors from prestigious institutions or student turned teachers. This research examines the rise of MOOCs with a review of its history and characteristics. We will describe a MOOC project service attempted by one of the authors and the related observations regarding challenges that are India specific. The paper will examine how MOOCs can enhance accessibility, student engagement, and experiences for lifelong learning. It will also look at how usage of specific technologies, can empower educators and students: we will specifically use examples from Physics education. The authors will also suggest how some applications when embedded into a regular face to face course can increase effectiveness of instructions and how cloud services can enable instructors to reach out to students beyond regular class to increase effectiveness of instructions. Challenges for learners and institutions are examined: for individual instruction, student performance assessment, and long-term administration, and oversight of these types of courses. Findings and suggestions especially in the area of SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses) will also be discussed and recommended where necessary. We will also attempt to showcase a pilot project related to computer intensive educational material in the field of Physics and Computer Science.