MOOCS: A critical view from the Educational Sciences

Résumé

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are an online learning experience that has been presented as a "revolution" for Higher Education and, in fact, has had a significant influence on academic discourse and educational practice in recent years. This article reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of MOOCs from the standpoint of Education Sciences. MOOCs have enhanced the online education and have shown the existence of a significant demand for higher education worldwide and the need for a change in teaching methods. They have also helped to re- define roles of university teachers and they have given students an active role in the processes of assessment for
learning and collaboration. MOOCs have made more flexible academic offers, have fostered internationalization and have enhanced collaboration between universities. Thanks to MOOCs it has been developed new technological tools for online training. But a number of weaknesses were also identified. On the one hand, use outdated teaching methods, lack of educational innovation,
standardization of knowledge, lack of attention to individual differences and lack of pedagogical knowledge about e-learning. Moreover, teachers' deprofessionalization, unidirectional communication, partial adoption of concept «open learning», dominance of the economy on education and high demands on digital skills and self-regulated learning.