Much ink—both liquid and digital—has been spilled lately about the question of whether the recent efflorescence of massive online open courses (MOOCs) constitutes a truly "disruptive" innovation in higher education.
But that issue begs a more fundamental question: If MOOCs are disruptive, what exactly are they disrupting?
Academia as an institution serves multiple purposes. Some of those are explicit and others are implicit or tacit. The explicit agendas are trumpeted in universities' catalogs, ads, and other publicity. Those overt messages generally speak of the services institutions promise to students, alumni, communities, business, and so on. The tacit agendas are largely focused on the enrichment and aggrandizement of the institution itself.
