Teaching in the Open: Widening Access or Homogenizing Learning Opportunities?

The changing landscape in UK higher education has led to claims that traditional university days are numbered and “deep, radical and urgent transformation” is needed. Included in this discourse is a focus on the emergence and development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the associated potential to open up and widen participation in education and learning in new communicative environments that may have potential to disrupt and/or revolutionize provision of higher education. This article considers some of the discussions and tensions that have surrounded MOOCs in order to explore the opportunities and challenges offered by continuing developments in virtual learning environments. First published on-line Dec 201