Would you teach a MOOC?

MOOCS? My first thought was, “Why would I want to teach a MOOC? Do faculty members really enjoy teaching MOOCs?” The Chronicle of Higher Education (2013) conducted a survey of faculty members teaching MOOCS and found that 71% of respondents who teach MOOCs do so to expand student access to higher education. Additional significant reasons for why faculty members teach MOOC’s included expanding their visibility and reputation as an instructor (Kolowich, 2013). Palloff & Pratt (as cited in Rockwell, Schauer, Fritz, & Marx, 1999) report that instructors indicated their desire to teach online was for personal reasons versus financial incentives. 

As a professional in the field, I understand the excitement, visibility, and the altruistic motivation that attracts an instructor to engage in this type of professional development. The chance to be innovative and creative is rewarding in itself, but how much time are instructors investing into creating and facilitating a course with 10,000 students? Palloff and Pratt (as cited in Bates & Sangra, 2011) contend that constructing an average online course ‘requires 12.5 days’ (p. 48). Similarly, Kolowich’s survey (2013) found that, "Typically a professor spent over 100 hours on his MOOC before it even started, by recording online lecture videos and doing other preparation. Others laid that groundwork in a few dozen hours" (para. 33). Clearly constructing an online course, regardless of the number of students, takes a tremendous amount of preparation time.  

As many non-academics may argue, the hours should drop off once the course starts, right? Kolowich (2013) discovered that: 

Once the course was in session, professors typically spent eight to 10 hours per week on upkeep. Most professors managed not to be inundated with messages from their MOOC students—they typically got five e-mails per week—but it was not unusual for a professor to be drawn into the discussion forums. Participation in those forums varied, but most professors posted at least once or twice per week, and some posted at least once per day. (para. 34)

Yet, instructors’ time and effort seems to vary. Thus, if the workload for a professor does increase, does the reward of teaching a MOOC outweigh the extra work? What are the intrinsic benefits to the instructor, if there is less or little interaction with students? Are there benefits to teaching a MOOC?

Since many MOOC’s are primarily delivered at Ivy League schools, I thought, professors must be receiving extra compensation for their time. Yet, if the course is not charging tuition, then, how is the professor’s extra time being compensated? Unfortunately, the answer is that educators are not receiving additional compensation. Kolowich’s (2013) article surmises that faculty members are not getting extra compensation, although some professors who are teaching a MOOC do so as a part of their regular course load. Therefore, many faculty members are taking on a significant amount of work to facilitate a MOOC. Kowitch (2013) opined that, “Many professors in the survey got a lot out of teaching MOOCs, but teaching MOOCs took a lot out of them”(para. 32). Although, teaching a MOOC would be exciting and challenging, I am uncertain that I would receive the same inherent benefits from viewing student self-improvement and participating in students’ educational journeys that I currently receive teaching online. I am uncertain that a strong connection can be established between MOOC professors and their students to provide the additional support that some students need to be successful. 

Finally, if MOOC’s have low completion rates, is the extra time and energy worth teaching a MOOC? Or is your time as an educator better spent elsewhere?