MOOCs Why Low-Cost Will Not Create Equal Access

How will Moocs influence the college and university system? This paper examines them with

the ―iron triangle‖ principles of access, cost, and quality. These show that while Moocs have

lower cost, they also have reduced access. Because they reduce person-to-person contact,

students must already be skilled life-long learners. In addition, while Moocs are currently free,

this is a result of them being subsidized. Their actual cost per successful completer is closer to

1/10th of a traditional face-to-face or online course. As a result, Moocs are unlikely to

significantly affect existing face-to-face or online delivery mechanisms. Instead, they are likely

to reach new life-long learners.

MOOCS: A NEW BALANCE OF ACCESS, COST, & QUALITY 2

Moocs: Why Low-Cost Will Not Create Equal Access

Moocs enable a single person to serve thousands of students by automating student-faculty

interaction and grading. This allows the offering of courses at a fraction of the normal price.

Will this change higher education, or will it result in the creation of a 2-track system? Will

wealthy students get a superior experience to those relegated to low-contact online only offerings?

The President of EdX calls Moocs ―the biggest revolution in education since the printing press…‖

(Solash, 2013). But the blackboard, educational videos & TV, and computer-based tutorials

have all been called the ―most important development since Gutenberg‘s printing press‖ (J.

Daniel, 2012). Unfortunately, educational technology rarely lives up its hype (Daniel, 2012b,

Toyama, 2011).

How do Moocs fit into our existing higher education system? Existing answers predict anything

from a university reinvigoration to a new form of segregation. However, a full answer requires

examining the interplay of three factors: educational quality, access, and cost. Each factor does

not exist in isolation; only a balanced approach can predict how Moocs will fit into (or disrupt)

our existing colleges and universities. This paper builds on existing literature that examines the

interplay of these three factors (often called the Iron Triangle).

Methods

This paper uses examines the (mostly non-scholarly) Mooc reports by following the general

pattern of most works examining the ―iron triangle‖ of cost, quality, and access (S. J. Daniel,

Kanwar, & Uvalic-Trumbic, 2009). This views three elements: cost, access, and quality, as key

characteristics of an educational institution or experience (S. J. Daniel et al., 2009). These

characteristics are often in opposition to each other. For example, increasing access to under-prepared students requires extra costs in the form of increased tutoring and remedial courses.

The rest of this section defines each term.

 Quality. A full definition of quality contains two separate elements. Pedagogy is the

type of educational approach being used to help students learn. Retention describes the

percentage of students successfully completing an educational experience. It is closely

linked to the effectiveness of an institution‘s pedagogy, but also relates to other variables.

 Cost. How much does it cost to offer an educational experience? Educational

experiences are highly subsidized through government loans, state educational systems,

and philanthropy. Even so, students still pay for a significant portion of their educational

experience.

 Access. What populations are able to take advantage of an educational experience?

Being available to all segments of society is an important educational ideal.

The four characteristics: Pedagogy, Retention, Costs, and Access are highly inter-related (figure

2). For example, increasing cost decreases access for low-income students, and accepting

freshman with only high SAT scores increases retention and decreases access. MOOCS: A NEW BALANCE OF ACCESS, COST, & QUALITY 3

The next sections of this paper analyze three educational segments through these criteria. I begin

by examining the traditional higher education system (mainly consisting of face-to-face

education). Next, I narrow the focus to only online courses. Lastly, I examine the preliminary

data from early Moocs.

Traditional Higher Education

The most comprehensive educational statistics are generated by the U.S. Department of

Education (Synder & Dillow, 2011). They describe a diverse set of 5,599 institutions & 21

million students. 70% of students are enrolled in public institutions, half are over 24 years old,

and 40% attend part-time.

Student engagement is a key predictor of student success (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). In-class,