Completion Rates Aren’t the Best Way to Judge MOOCs, Researchers Say: What is?

I’m completely open to the idea that completion rates are the wrong measures of success for MOOCs.  But I do believe that we need some measure.  What would success for MOOCs mean?  How do we know if it’s being achieved?  Or if it’s a waste of time and money?

In the meantime, the Harvard and MIT researchers said they hoped the new studies would help people understand that technology and scale are not the only things that distinguish MOOCs from other kinds of higher education.

“People are projecting their own desires onto MOOCs,” said Mr. Ho, “and then holding them accountable for criteria that the instructors and institutions and, most importantly, students don’t hold for themselves.”

via Completion Rates Aren’t the Best Way to Judge MOOCs, Researchers Say – Wired Campus – Blogs – The Chronicle of Higher Education.