Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, represent one of the most momentous—and contentious—changes to higher education in decades. But the debate over the free Internet classes has been a conspicuously fact-free zone. While techno-utopians tout MOOCs’ potential to topple barriers to college educations for disadvantaged people worldwide and skeptics warn of the downsides to automated instruction, neither side has been able to point to reliable data to support its claims.
大規(guī)模在線開放課程的興起可謂是近十年來高等教育領(lǐng)域最重大，也最具爭(zhēng)議的變革之一。對(duì)免費(fèi)網(wǎng)絡(luò)課程的論戰(zhàn)已經(jīng)逐漸失去意義，成為一個(gè)各說各有理的僵局。技術(shù)空想家們鼓吹大規(guī)模在線課程將能夠?yàn)槿蚍秶鷥?nèi)享受不到教育資源的人們打通高等教育的屏障，而懷疑者們則警告人們，機(jī)械錄制的課程講授自有其缺陷。無論論戰(zhàn)的哪一方都不能舉出可靠的數(shù)據(jù)來支持自己的觀點(diǎn)。

So our team at the University of Pennsylvania decided to inject some empiricism into the discussion. Surveying people who have enrolled in a MOOC offered by the university and completed at least one full lecture, we collected nearly 35,000 responses from students hailing from around the world.
所以我們這支來自賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)的團(tuán)隊(duì)決定為這場(chǎng)論戰(zhàn)加入一些經(jīng)驗(yàn)的元素。我們對(duì)注冊(cè)本校提供的大規(guī)模在線公開課程、并聽完了至少一堂課的學(xué)員進(jìn)行了調(diào)查，收到來自全球各地的3.5萬份問卷回復(fù)。

From the survey results, a clear portrait emerges: MOOCs, at least thus far, are serving the world’s haves more than its have-nots. A disproportionate number of MOOC students are already well-educated. Globally, they’re predominately male and currently employed; they’re also older than you might expect. Far more enrollees view them as a diversion than they do as a means to a college degree or a new job.
根據(jù)調(diào)查結(jié)果，我們得出了明確結(jié)論：至少從目前的情況來，大規(guī)模在線課程所服務(wù)的更多的是社會(huì)資源豐富的人群，而不是社會(huì)資源匱乏的人群。絕大多數(shù)MOOC的學(xué)員實(shí)際上已經(jīng)接受過良好的教育。從全球的平均數(shù)據(jù)來看，這些學(xué)員主要為男性，在職狀態(tài)；他們也不像人們預(yù)計(jì)的那樣年輕。許多注冊(cè)學(xué)員都將在線課程看作是一種消遣，而不是將其作為獲得大學(xué)學(xué)歷的手段，或者找到工作的途徑。

Taking advantage of the opportunities that MOOCs offer requires an extensive ecosystem: sufficient schooling to be able to follow college-level material, consistent access to the Web, reliable electricity.
要享受大規(guī)模在線課程平臺(tái)所提供的種種教育機(jī)會(huì)，需要一整條先決條件鏈的支持：入學(xué)前必須具備足夠的知識(shí)儲(chǔ)備、才能夠適應(yīng)相當(dāng)于大學(xué)水平的教學(xué)內(nèi)容，必須能夠長(zhǎng)時(shí)間上網(wǎng)，必須擁有可靠的電力供應(yīng)。

Eventually, the courses may come closer to fulfilling the promises-but for such a transformation to begin, basic access to education and technology will have to improve first.
也許日后終有一天，在線課程會(huì)越來越能夠滿足人們的教育需求——但是要完成這種轉(zhuǎn)變，人們必須先提供充足的基礎(chǔ)性教育資源并且進(jìn)一步發(fā)展教育信息技術(shù)。