Are MOOCs a Solution or a Symptom?

Despite the lack of a viable business model and very high student attrition rates, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have become the current obsession in higher education. Even so, there is still no broad agreement about what a MOOC actually is. Although the current MOOC format(s) may not be a solution to our problems, they may be a symptom of the changing demand for higher education. Many of the students who take MOOCs are currently employed and wish to either learn new skills or solidify their current position. This suggests that colleges and universities need to develop new models for education that are more convenient and useful for today's potential students.