To MOOC, or Not to MOOC, That is the Question

This article presents view of two books on massive open online courses (MOOCs). The two books ride on a homologous theme: the revolutionary future of undergraduate education. A Whole New Engineer, by David E. Goldberg and Mark Somerville, describes the change in engineering education that is taking place at the newly minted Olin College of Engineering and the more established the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Another book, The End of College, Kevin Carey prognosticates the future of learning and the university of everywhere based upon emerging MOOCs. Rising tuition prices and a flagging global economy, combined with advances in information technology, are leading to a rapidly changing scene from traditional lecture-hall teaching to online education.