An exploratory study on digital learning innovations (MOOCS): The future of higher education

The COVID -19 pandemic has transformed many aspects of life and one of the hard hit sector is Education. The situation has forced us to build virtual alliances and e-learning system which never happened before to fill the formal learning void. Many colleges and universities are relying on tailor-made and existing online courses from other institutions to ensure academic continuity for students. In this reference, this paper tends to explore the changing trends in Higher Education due to the massification of online courses called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in India. Also the study highlights the comparison between students remote learning and online learning from parents perspective. For this purpose data is collected via both open and closed ended questionnaire and is statistically analysed. The findings reveals that MOOCs and online education have certainly breached the presential learning regulations and acts as a catalyst for higher education reform by offering an array of opportunities and competencies at a relatively low cost. However, they are nowhere close to replacing face to face instructor led learning. The study recommends that online education can be seen as a step in the right direction towards democratizing education but cannot be a cure for all the global education problems or a replacement for campus-based learning. The insights from this study can be helpful in developing a blended system of learning which brings in positive energy and supports teachers, students and professionals learning towards sustainable development.