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MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

news.mit.edu

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Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#11

Post by jrochkind1 »

jp0d wrote: post #3

I'm doing my Micromasters in Statistics from MIT on EDX. Enjoying the amazing content and recognition of certificate. I'm not sure what this means for enrolled students like me. Is anyone else doing MicroMaster or similar course from a university and worried what this means? "MIT faculty may choose to continue to offer their courses through the new edX after the transaction is completed, or move them to MITx Online."

i had never heard the phrase "micromasters". Wikipedia suggests it is unique to EdX.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroMasters

Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#12

Post by mumblemumble »

brutus1213 wrote: post #4

This seems like terrible news :( After the focus on monetization of platforms such as udemy and coursera, edx seemed to give me a sliver of hope that education will be open. Given the immense trust funds held by Harvard and MIT, I had hoped money would not be a factor and these institutions would be able to develop their platform in the open. I'd like to add .. non-profit does not mean free to end users. There are ma…

FUN (https://www.fun-mooc.fr) is another good option that seems to be keeping it together. I haven't counted, but I think that most the courses are available in English.

Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#13

Post by sokoloff »

brutus1213 wrote: post #4

This seems like terrible news :( After the focus on monetization of platforms such as udemy and coursera, edx seemed to give me a sliver of hope that education will be open. Given the immense trust funds held by Harvard and MIT, I had hoped money would not be a factor and these institutions would be able to develop their platform in the open. I'd like to add .. non-profit does not mean free to end users. There are ma…

One of the problems of the current structure (at least as of five-ish years ago) is that most of the EdX employees are on the MIT payroll and benefits system (meaning the benefits are pretty great, but the pay bands are incompatible with competing [financially] for engineering talent against the actual tech market). If this breaks that logjam, it could be good for EdX in this one, small regard.

Fundamentally though I agree with your summary; I trusted EdX a lot more because it was tightly affiliated with MIT and Harvard. Spun out into an arms-length institution, it seems like it will now be more likely to be driven into the ground by its leadership at some point in the next 100 years because of the lack of enough stabilizing "keel" provided by the affiliation with world-class universities.

Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#15

Post by JadeNB »

codeisawesome wrote: post #5

So the universities have decided to monetise their own great reputations by simply selling it to a bidder?

> So the universities have decided to monetise their own great reputations by simply selling it to a bidder?

I think that this is a terrible decision and regret it, but there's not much surprise: this monetisation of their reputation is kind of the business of modern universities.

Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#16

Post by sokoloff »

hashhar wrote: post #7

I'm sad that all education endeavours eventually turn for-profit and then the goals get misaligned. Produce as many courses at as minimum cost as possible. Enroll as many people as possible without regards for completion percentage. Create an economy where random people are incentivised to create courses and then the course quality tanks. I wish this turns out differently. Even Udemy and Coursera have become commeric…

Udemy and Coursera were entirely commercial from their start, were they not?

Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#17

Post by maayank »

benrbray wrote: post #6
brutus1213 wrote: post #4

This seems like terrible news :( After the focus on monetization of platforms such as udemy and coursera, edx seemed to give me a sliver of hope that education will be open. Given the immense trust funds held by Harvard and MIT, I had hoped money would not be a factor and these institutions would be able to develop their platform in the open. I'd like to add .. non-profit does not mean free to end users. There are ma…

I tried to use edX for the first time recently to take a "food science" course, but was disappointed to see that they've resorted to the same dark patterns as Coursera and others, such as: * Removing your access to course materials when the class is done, and disallowing access to past versions of the class. * Pressuring you into joining as many courses as possible, due to fear of missing out. When you visit the site…

> * Breaking courses into useless 2-minute chunks and constant unhelpful quizzes. I really just want to hear the lecturer speak for 20-30 minutes at a time uninterrupted, especially if I'm listening while doing dishes etc.

That's actually one of my favorite things when taking online courses...

Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#18

Post by ArtWomb »

benrbray wrote: post #6
brutus1213 wrote: post #4

This seems like terrible news :( After the focus on monetization of platforms such as udemy and coursera, edx seemed to give me a sliver of hope that education will be open. Given the immense trust funds held by Harvard and MIT, I had hoped money would not be a factor and these institutions would be able to develop their platform in the open. I'd like to add .. non-profit does not mean free to end users. There are ma…

I tried to use edX for the first time recently to take a "food science" course, but was disappointed to see that they've resorted to the same dark patterns as Coursera and others, such as: * Removing your access to course materials when the class is done, and disallowing access to past versions of the class. * Pressuring you into joining as many courses as possible, due to fear of missing out. When you visit the site…

Not surprised a cooking class doesn't lend itself to an easy online port! But the lecture content from Harvard's Science and Cooking with El Bulli's Ferran Adria is still as you mention freely available online for all to enjoy. I recently had a free week pass to Masterclass. And though I found the content more entertaining than enlightening (How to be a Boss with Anna Wintour). There is something to be said about educational content that is given a Hollywood production budget. I think it was always inevitable institutes of higher education would seek auxiliary revenue streams from MOOCs. And an influx of capital could result in lecture videos that are Netflix quality, and that enjoy near 100% levels of retention ;)

Science and Cooking: A Dialogue | Lecture 1 (2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9av8-lhJS8

Re: MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

#19

Post by etempleton »

I suspect it was just not a sustainable program from a revenue perspective for either school and has the risk to lower the schools reputation and suck away resources.

2U is one of the biggest for-profit higher education companies and seemingly one of the most successful ones, often partnering with other colleges and universities.

I am suspicious of any of the for-profits being able to sustain a business. Most end up failing because, as it ends up, education is not very profitable if done correctly.

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