As more and more universities offer their courses for free online, those that choose not to risk being left behind, and missing out on the opportunity to develop a more innovative ¨C and future-proof ¨C approach to higher education, Don Nutbeam, vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton, said.

Speaking at the Universities UK Open and Online Learning conference in London yesterday, he posed the question: ¡°If university content is available for free, why would anyone pay ?9,000 plus per year for a university education? If university content can be delivered where and when people want it who will ever turn up for lectures again?¡±

He said the conclusion was ¡°obvious¡±, adding: ¡°It¡¯s Mooc or die. More to the point, do it quickly.¡±

According to Professor Nutbeam, ¡°smart universities will embrace the Mooc movement¡±, using them to develop innovations in teaching and learning.

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¡°I don¡¯t think it is the end of the campus,¡± he said, ¡°[but] I do sincerely believe that Moocs and the technology they foster can liberate students and our academic community from the traditional lecture.¡±

He said students were uninspired by the idea of sitting with 400 others in a lecture theatre, and listening ¡°at a distance¡±.? This experience could easily be replaced by online learning, he said.

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¡°What students place high value on is high quality, interactive contact time with the academic community,¡± he continued. ¡°Time that enables them to develop¡­transferable skills such as the ability to work as part of a team, to solve problems working with other [and] the ability to communicate publicly effectively. These are things that are not easily going to be replaced by Moocs.¡±

Open University vice-chancellor Martin Bean told the conference that if universities ignored Moocs, they would, potentially, be bypassing a huge opportunity to market themselves internationally.

¡°When 18 of the top 20 ranked US universities last year started Mooc-ing, it created this moment¡­where suddenly we had this tipping, and the world will never be the same again,¡± he said.

¡°[Potential students are asking]: ¡®I can get online and try out US universities for free, why can¡¯t I try out British universities?¡¯ If we don¡¯t think that opening up these digital storefronts¡­is going to be the way of the future then we are sadly mistaken.¡±

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chris.parr@tsleducation.com