OER Knowledge CloudBook ChapterWaks, Leonard J.The New York Times declared 2012 'The Year of the MOOC'; 2013 was the year of the rebound – when criticisms mounted and the MOOC hype balloon burst. Critics claimed that MOOCs were worthless both in narrowly educational terms and as credentials for the job market. This chapter examines four educational criticisms of MOOCs: that (1) MOOCs have low completion rates, (2) MOOCs cannot replace essential teaching functions, (3) MOOCs are isolating while good learning situations are social and (4) at their best, MOOCs merely reproduce the widely rejected top-down methods of conventional college courses. Selected examples of cutting-edge MOOCs are then examined to show how, and why, these early critiques can no longer in general be sustained.20162016/10Palgrave Macmillan US59-82United States10.1057/978-1-349-85204-8_4https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-85204-8_4978-1-349-85204-8does not applycompletion ratesMOOC critiquesMOOC hypepedagogyteachinghttps://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-85204-8_4New York, United States, North America