最新网络课程异军突起.docx

网络课程异军突起 An army of new online courses is scaring the wits out of traditional universities. But can they find a viable bus in ess model? 浩浩荡荡的新型网络课程对传统大学造成了不小的威胁，它能发展出可行的商 业模式吗? DOTCOM mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive ope n on li ne courses, the ivory towers of academia have bee n shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over cen turies have bee n forced to con template the possibility that in formati on tech no logy will rapidly make their existi ng bus in ess model obsolete. Mean while, the MOOCs have multiplied in nu mber, resources and stude nt recruitme nt ——without yet hav ing figured out a bus in ess model of their own. 网络狂热在教育界一直波澜不兴，不过最近网络已征服这一神圣的行业。随着 去年上半年硅谷两家新秀 Udacity和Coursera通过MOOC （大规模网络公开课 平台）开通免费在线课程，象牙塔内学术权威的地位遭到了动摇。几个世纪以 来声名远扬的大学也开始心里打鼓，担心信息技术会很快造成其现行商业模式 过时。另外，在没有自身商业模式的情况下， MOOC在数量、资源和招生人数 上已翻了好几番。 Besides providi ng on li ne courses to their own （ge nerally fee-pay ing） stude nts, universities have felt obliged to join the MOOC revolution to avoid being guillotined by it. Coursera has formed partnerships with 83 universities and colleges around the world, including many of America s top-tier institutions. 除了为本学校的学生提供在线课程外（通常情况下须付费） ，各个大学觉得自 己有义务加入MOOC变革的阵营，从而避免被逼上绝路。Coursera已经与来 自世界各地的83所大学建立合作关系，其中包括美国的不少顶尖学府。 EdX, a non -profit MOOC provider fou nded in May 2012 by Harvard Uni versity and the Massachusetts In stitute of Tech no logy and backed with $60m of their mon ey, is now a con sortium of 28 in stituti ons, the most rece nt joiner being the In dia n In stitute of Tech no logy in Mumbai. Led by the Open Uni versity, which pioneered distance-learning in the 1970s, FutureLearn, a consortium of 21 British, one Irish and one Australian university, plus other educational bodies, will start offering MOOCs later this