Samenvatting

This research report has the aim to examine what effects the new development of Massive
Open Online Courses (abbreviated as MOOCs) are likely to have on the sector of Higher
Education in general and to recommend specific ways of how the Hanze University should
react to this Online Learning hype.
The research draws attention to the novelty of this new development of online learning and
therefore, it is important to look at the history of how learning and technology got
connected and how the use of technologies in the learning process increased rapidly in the
last decade. Because of this particular development, also the learning models need to be
adapted to the new style of learning, since people are nowadays more connected and
networked than ever before. These learning models illustrate the huge potential of online
learning and how it can increase the students’ performance significantly. The strengths and
weaknesses of online learning need to be considered as well, and it is the task of the
educational industry to maximize the assets and minimize the drawbacks of online learning
in the coming years to increase the value of learning in the future.This report concludes that the potential of MOOCs in the future can be limited to introduce
a shift in pedagogy and online learning. It is unlikely that they will replace universities, since
they are not seen as a disruptive innovation with vigorous effect. Individual ways of learning
can be studied with the help of network technology, data collection and analysis tools
offered through the use of MOOCs and in consequence these insights can help to shape a
more flexible and learner-focused education. Also, it is likely that MOOCs will separate
themselves from the institutions and stand for themselves. In this way, it would be possible
for several universities to offer the same course, backed up with offline components like
tutorials and labs on-site. Moreover, developing countries can take advantage of these
specific types of online courses to educate their upcoming generation, given that a reliable
MOOC infrastructure is in place to secure access to quality education.