Moocs Through the Lens of a Disruptive Technology

MOOCs through the lens of a disruptive technology

MOOCs through the lens of a disruptive technology

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

Exective Summary 3

Disruptive Technology 6

The MOOC Market: Providers, Offerings and Formats 7

Technology Adoption: Who’s taking the courses? 9

MOOCs Two Scenarios 10

Conclusion 12

Works Cited 12

MOOCs Through the Lens of a Disruptive Technology

Executive Summary

In 1997 a best-selling book, "The Innovator's Dilemma,” by Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen was published. It separates new technology into two categories: sustaining and disruptive. Sustaining technology relies on incremental improvements to an already established technology. Disruptive technology lacks refinement, often has performance problems because it is new, appeals to a limited audience, and may not yet have a proven practical application. Such as the "electrical speech machine," which we now call the telephone. Disruptive technology describes a new technology that unexpectedly displaces an established technology.

There was a time when my personal life revolved around my TV schedule. Being a die-hard “Gladiator” for Scandal I would be so distraught for missing an episode because I was away on travel. Even with my DVR device I would still have to wait to get home to view it. NO MORE! For Thanksgiving, (and because of my continuous complaining) my boyfriend bought me a Slingbox. Now I can watch my shows whenever and wherever, I can fast-forward through commercials like I would at home. How is this disruptive technology? Simple, it displaces regular TV, DVR and TiVo. Once again cable/satellite providers are lagging behind, as in the case with TiVo. They soon will have to play catch-up and come out with their own type of “Slingbox” device. Since it is not perfect, connectivity and freezing issues occur depending on your location (which might cause you to miss the winning touchdown, game-ending shot, etc.).

With the...