Pondering Change and the Relationship of Prior Learning Assessment to MOOCs and Knowledge in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of assessment as a learning activity in prior learning assessment (PLA) and the potential offered by PLA for assessing MOOC learning toward academic credentials offered by accredited institutions of higher learning. In doing so, the paper also considers the nature of knowledge and provides a short history of the MOOC movement and an overview of MOOC issues currently under discussion in the field. The paper suggests that, at the end of the day, a major contribution of this intensely controversial phenomenon is the investigative light it casts on traditional practices of higher education and our historical acceptance of the educational status quo.