My Teacher Is An App

In the second of this three-part series looking at the phenomenal changes in education being brought about by technology, Sarah Montague travels to Boston to explore the recent developments in Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs.

These courses started in the US just over two years ago and have caused a storm of controversy there. Some argue that these free online university courses, presented by some of the best professors in the world, could - in cash-strapped times - be the saviour of higher education. Others argue they could destroy centuries of tradition and even threaten some of the world's greatest universities.

In Boston, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have joined forces to form edX - one of the biggest MOOC providers in the States. Sarah speaks with Professor Anant Agarwal, President of MIT, and Professor Michael Sandel, whose online course has been watched by millions around the world, about their experiences.

These online courses have been heralded as opening university up to many people who would not otherwise get a university education. Sarah talks to Claude Mukendi - who grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a family of 14. He'd always dreamed of going to university but thought it would never happen, until he discovered MOOCs.

But many questions are also being asked about MOOCs and there are concerns about the effects these courses will have on the universities themselves. Professor Mitch Duneier from Princeton University explains why he no longer takes part in MOOC lectures.

Sarah asks what the university of the future might look like and, as she sits in on a class given by Pulitzer prize-winner Professor Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare, she ponders what magical moments in learning might be lost if university went online.

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