在线教育必须靠质量取胜

The past few years have seen an exponential increase in the number of

Moocs(massive open online courses). In Europe, for example, it is estimated that the number nearly tripled in the two years to 2015 (from 276 to 770). Of these, about 120 are business Moocs. 近些年来，大型网络公开课(Massive Open Online Courses,简称Mooc)数量大幅增长。例如，在欧洲，据估计在截止2015年的两年时间里Mooc数量从276门增加至770门，增加了近2倍。其中大约120门是商业Mooc。

Some of these courses have been developed by business schools, and some by schools utilising platforms such as Coursera, FutureLearn, Iversity and Udacity. Some platforms encourage professors, especially well-known academics, to use their

infrastructure to create a Mooc. 其中一些课程由商学院开发，还有一些由商学院利用Coursera、FutureLearn、Iversity和Udacity等平台开发。一些平台鼓励教授们（尤其是知名学者）利用它们的基础设施创建Mooc。

The number of Mooc participants has also shot up. It is estimated that there were 1.9m Coursera students in 2012, which rose to 10m by late 2014. Completion rates appear to be low, however, at about 4 per cent. Some 50 per cent of those who register never watch the first video. 参与Mooc的人数也大幅增长。据估计，2012年在Coursera上有190万名学员，到2014年末这一数字上升至1000万。然而，课程完成率似乎很低，只有4%左右。在那些注册了课程的学员当中，大约有50%从未观看第一个视频。

It has been claimed that business schools are motivated to develop Moocs to provide access to education in the developing world and to under-represented groups elsewhere. Moocs have been used to help position institutions while also attracting students. Offering free education to the world may also help to soften the impression of schools’ exclusivity and wealth and to justify research funding received from public bodies. 有人声称，商学院开发Mooc的动机是为发展中世界以及其他地区的少数群体提供教育机会。Mooc已被用于帮助定位机构的角色，同时也在吸引学生。向全世界提供免费教育也可能有助于淡化商学院给人留下的那种只有富人才能就读的印象，同时表明它们接受公共机构的研究资金是合理的。

At present it is difficult to see how institutions can generate significant revenues from Moocs other than by charging for assessment. However, one course did generate revenues of about $2.5m — above the cost of development and delivery — with just 10 per cent of students paying for evidence of participation. Online delivery may also produce savings by sharing materials across campuses and faculty, using the materials multiple times, replacing campus courses with Moocs and other innovative ways of cutting costs. 就目前而言，很难说机构是从Mooc、而不是从评估收费中来获