A SURVEY ON MOOC PROVIDERS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

Online learning has evolved over the years, becoming increasingly accessible and gaining credibility as a learning medium. Universities are reshaping education on the Web by means of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). The learners can access educational content anytime, from anyplace and participatory culture using social networks seems to be the biggest advantage that MOOC has brought to the world of education especially in the higher education arena. MOOC has rapidly developed from a small section of specialist courses to millions of registered users on major online platforms offering hundreds of courses. As MOOC expands, attrition and accreditation is a problem. Though MOOC is expanding very fast, the literature on MOOC research is limited. This paper presents a survey on MOOC providers which aims to capture the state of MOOC, how they evolved and to identify issues and challenges that are important for MOOC providers.


INTRODUCTION
Higher Education is entering a phase of dramatic change and innovation particularly in offering online courses. MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) is an online phenomenon gathering momentum over the past two years or so, which integrates the facilitation of an acknowledged expert in a field of study, the connectivity of social networking and a collection of freely accessible online resources. A MOOC is an online course with the option of free and open registration, a publicly shared curriculum, and open-ended outcomes. The term came into being in 2008, though versions of very large open online courses were in existence before that time [1]. MOOCs have been offered in conjunction with academic institutions or independently by facilitators.
MOOC builds on the active engagement of several hundred to several thousand "students" who self-organize their participation according to learning goals, prior knowledge and skills, and common interests. Although it may share in some of the conventions of an ordinary course, such as a predefined timeline and weekly topics for consideration, a MOOC generally carries no fees, no prerequisites other than Internet access and interest, no predefined expectations for participation, and no formal accreditation. The emergence of new educational delivery models including the rapid development of MOOCs is another source pressure on conventional Higher Education Institutions (HEI), but also offers opportunities for those institutions able to change and develop new provision [2].    Table 1 shows the major MOOC providers of US with number of courses offered, numbers of students registered and the number of institutions involved.

MOOC INITIATIVES IN INDIA
There is a growing interest in MOOCs in many developing countries like India and China.  EduKart is an Indian distance learning cum online education company that provides Indian and international degrees. The business model is similar to a massive open online course (MOOC), with some specific features, e.g. most courses do not have a calendar-based schedule (students may start a course at any time); fees are charged for providing courses.

VENTURES OF MOOC PROVIDERS
There are around 30 MOOC providers for Higher Education. Figure 1 shows

Business Model
The viability of MOOCs from an economic perspective is also a challenge. Most MOOC start-ups do not appear to have clear business models [14]. There is no standard business or financial model for how MOOCs will generate revenue. Some common approaches to generate revenue are considered by Coursera and other start-ups working in partnership with HEI, including: charging students a fee for certificates of participation, certificates for completion or even transcripts; providing premium services such as recruiting tools that link employers with students who have shown ability in a given area; and philanthropic donations from individuals and companies.

Pedagogy
MOOCs are typically suited to more advanced learners who require less academic support to navigate their way through courses and materials [14]. However, only 7 to 10% of enrolled students complete the course. It is likely to increase as MOOC pedagogy and technology matures. Challenges exist in the area of finding new pedagogies and organizational mechanisms in MOOC to deliver a high quality learning experiences for different levels [15] [16]. Specific pedagogical issues, challenges and questions include:  the extent to which it can support deep enquiry and the creation of sophisticated knowledge;  the breadth versus the depth of participation;  whether and under what conditions successful participation can extend beyond those with broadband access and sophisticated social networking skills;  specific strategies to maximize the effective contribution of facilitators in particular.

Quality and Completion Rates
The issue of quality assurance of MOOCs is a big concern for Higher Education Institutions. In most cases, compared to other online courses, MOOCs lack structure, and rarely include the central role of the instructor or teacher. Learners' motivation to participate in MOOCs is a significant area of interest to many Higher Education stakeholders. However, one of the most challenging aspects of MOOCs is attrition and accreditation, as the majority of learners will either drop out of the course entirely or complete the course without any transferable credits. There are many factors that influence students' motivation to learn; these include future economic benefit, development of personal and professional identity, challenge and achievement, enjoyment and fun. Surveys conducted by researchers at Duke University show that student motivations typically fell into one of four categories [17]:  To support lifelong learning or gain an understanding of the subject matter, with no particular expectations for completion or achievement,  For fun, entertainment, social experience and intellectual stimulation,  Convenience, often in conjunction with barriers to traditional education options,  To experience or explore online education.
They are largely self-directed learning, which is a very different experience to formal education. MOOCs demand a certain level of digital literacy from the participants, which has raised concerns on inclusivity and equality of access.

Assessment and Credit
Most MOOC use quizzes as their main instrument of assessmentshort multiple choice questions with automated answers for feedback [18]. Some may offer other types of assessment that require open responses, but with limited resources it is not possible for thousands of essay assignments to be marked by one lecturer. Some MOOCs rely heavily on peer engagement and assessment to support the individual student's learning process [19][20]. Coursera, for example, includes submission of essay style answers, graded through peer assessment, to balance the scale with the available resource. It also requires more staff resources and extensive structures for testing and validation. Some concerns are expressed around cheating and plagiarism with online learning, particularly where courses are eligible for academic credits.
Course providers have made clear from the beginning that they would not award credits for MOOCs, but only certificates of attendance and completion. Given that courses are free, awarding credits could become a threat on enrollment in regular courses. Measures are taken by MOOCs to avoid the issue for example Coursera teaming up with Pearson test centres to provide in person examinations. MOOCs often give participants opportunities to earn badges or a certificate of completion.

CONCLUSIONS
MOOC is changing the learning environment particularly in Higher Education Institutions [21]. It provides a platform for the learners for continuous learning, to upgrade and update their knowledge and skills from anywhere in the world. It also facilitates the learners to choose the appropriate courses offered by different prestigious Universities as it is open and free. As MOOC is expanding very fast and now even the smaller and less prestigious institutions want to adventure MOOC and they do not want to lose their market share and recruits. However MOOCs also provide institutions with a vehicle to think creatively and innovatively and to explore new pedagogical practices for learners motivation, participatory learning and also to satisfy individual learners need. MOOC has posed huge challenges for existing HEI business models, for institutions at all levels, for pedagogy, and for international educational demand.