I have signed up for three courses - web science, branding and sound evaluation. More on this in future posts.

But first a bit about the Guardian and how they report this. I have not seen the print version today but yesterday there was nothing. Most comment has been negative so far this year. There was a blog copied from Clay Shirky on the first announcement but this obviously came from outside the normal Guardian set of views.

Today a search on the Guardian website finds a blog post by Stephen Caddick from UCL. This is not quite as negative as the earlier views in Guardian print. Eventually "

We should seize the opportunities they give of blowing that open and of universities becoming flexible, dynamic hubs of innovation, learning and collaboration." but in the meantime some UK universities are keeping Futurelearn at a distance because of concerns at a model where "one size fits all".

Actually I think the "student voice" comes over in the way that a lot of MOOCS find a high drop out rate in the first couple of weeks. People are probably fitting together those sources that contribute to their interest and situation. The stats may look bad for particular courses but I don't think this matters from a student viewpoint.

Currently much of what I do is around a weekly show on community radio, Phonic FM ( Wild Show Thur 10-12 am ) so there is some group for discussion on branding , "critical listening for studio production", and web science. Maybe not in those words but time will tell. The idea that there is no MOOC reality face time or whatever you want to call it is also a bit wrong.

I am concentrating on the more practical topics. I can't make out why Peter Scott is not supporting the MOOC ideas. It may be too commercial but where are the alternative proposals? I am trying to think what mode two and soforth was about. It seems to be just another complex set of ideas. I don't see where it has related much to practice. Same for Design Science. It is not easy to find explanation of where management theory has been applied.

Of course I do realise the Web Science course may turn out to involve some developed theory. Whatever it is they have researched, why not present it in a MOOC as well as in a hardback book?