Jun 29, 2018, 3:03 PM
(from Inside Higher Ed) Massive open online courses are now a little less open, with MOOC provider edX's recent announcement that it is introducing support fees for some of its offerings. On May 3, edX began testing the introduction of a “modest support fee.” Adam Medros, edX COO president, said in an interview that the support fee was just one option being explored to ensure the long-term sustainability of the MOOC provider. Medros described the testing of the support fee as “complicated” with multiple implementation experiments running concurrently for different subsets of users.
Previously users were able to take most of its courses at no cost, an option that edX calls “auditing” a course. Those who want a certificate to show they have completed a course typically pay between $50 and $300. Now some users will be asked to pay a support fee, “from $9 up to some portion of the certification cost,” said Medros. The price of the support fee “will be aligned to the value and experience” that a course gives to a learner, said Medros, suggesting that the best courses will also be the most expensive.
By introducing a support fee, Medros said, there is a possibility that completion rates may go up. “There is a lot of evidence showing that having some ‘skin in the game’ is beneficial in online learning,” said Medros.
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