Comparison and Contrast between Friedman and Head on the Effectiveness of Online Writing

Comparison and Contrast between Friedman and Head on the Effectiveness of Online Writing
Name
Institution
The Effectiveness of Online Writing Courses (MOOCs)
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are one of the revolutionary trends in education across the world. Many controversies surround it with some education stakeholders viewing it as very costly but of little value. In addition, other critics consider it a cheaper model of teaching especially in higher education (Vimeo, 2014). Cheaper in the sense many students can be reached wherever they are, by a sole instructor, but of little value in the sense that there is no face to face interaction between the learner and the instructor. For instance, Dr. Karen Head and Thomas Friedman hold divergent opinions and views on the same issue; however, they tend to agree on other significant views concerning the debate this may be in order to attain a neutral understanding.
The revolution in the education sector across the world, which is created by massive use of the internet, is acknowledged by both Head and Friedman. The duos are acknowledging that many students across the world can be reached and access education online. However, there is a feeling that many students especially those from financially challenged backgrounds may be left out (Head, 2013, para. 1). Friedman is arguing that, “massive open online courses can present a scenario of inequalities in education provision.” He further asserts that, “children and students from affluent families will use online courses to augment teaching on campus while their counterparts from the less fortunate families will resort to the use of automated online instruction with little personal guidance (Head, 2013, Para. 2).” This is something that Head shares closely with Friedman as she also raises the concern that many students across the world that she instructs using massive open online courses have little access to the internet.
Nevertheless, the content that the model is able to deliver to the students is also a matter of controversy. Friedman is worried of the number of students that can be handled with the use of MOOCs (Head, 2013, para. 4). His other worry is the creation of a “super professor” that can handle such huge numbers while the rest of the lecturers are left with nothing to handle. Head, however, praises the model as she reports that besides reaching many students in almost all continents of the world, the students have also formed forums where they discuss contents and technology and helps one another with questions. She is also admitting that the most exciting part of all is the weekly “hangout” sessions, which are enabled by the use of Google air (Head, 2013, para. 5).
Friedman and Dr. Head still possess different understanding about the use of MOOCs. For instance, Dr. Head is focusing on the Massive open online courses as an instructional means of disseminating information to the students. However, Friedman sees it as a supplementary to the traditional courses and programs. He contends that, “MOOCs is an example of what colleges have been offering as a remedial aid to students (Friedman, 2013, para. 1) .” Dr. Head, on the other hand, presents MOOCs as comprehensive ways of instruction to the students. For instance, whenever there is a problem the students are always emailed. She adds that the students are kind especially when they become transparent. In this case, the two authors differ on their take on the ...