I am definitely not against MOOCs. I think everyone should open their courses, share materials, teach in the wild and understand the OER paradigm. I just disagree with the opinion that MOOCs are or can replace courses. At least not the MOOCs I have seen and I have seen many. I think the problem is with the excessive polarity of this debate and the insistence (because of a clear financial agenda, in so many ways and players) that MOOCs are courses. Furthermore, we have here a typical academic agenda: “I want to be famous; I have this hypothesis that I will defend at any cost because my reputation is on the line”.
Many people are claiming that the institution of higher education is trembling. Really? I have heard this before from the people who wanted to make money in HE. I have been focusing on OERs since 2001, and I see MOOCs as a satellite of OERs rather than a substitute for any one thing.