Power Structures in Massive Open Online Courses: Examining the Present and Imagining the Future

• In Event: 72.064 - Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 72.064-1 - Data, Capital, and ... Oh Yeah, Children

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have garnered considerable attention in recent times because of the expectation that they will succeed in expanding access to high quality education free of cost, eradicating hierarchical teacher-student relationships and promoting co-creation of knowledge among learners from culturally diverse backgrounds. In this paper, we propose that there are underlying power structures within the current format of MOOCs which can pose a problem in achieving the objective of equitable and democratic knowledge construction. We use Castells’ concept of space-place dialectic and Foucault’s ideas on power/knowledge to examine power structures in MOOCs. We discuss the potential of Hansen’s notion of educational cosmopolitanism to resolve our concerns with respect to existent power structures in MOOCs.

Authors

• Narmada Paul, The Ohio State University

• Moonsun Choi, The Ohio State University - Columbus

• Jonathan Burbidge, The Ohio State University

• Michael Glassman, The Ohio State University - Columbus