Open Online Courses in Higher Education of Russia and Israel

The chapter discusses the problems and the prospects of open online courses (OOC) in higher education system. The unrealistic expectations in regard to OOC use are connected to the unreasonable transfer of their successful implementation in advanced training and resolution of other specific educational problems to the academic teaching process. Several problematic aspects of OOC implementation in the academic work of students led to certain disappointments. The analysis of professional training in an academic education system and its comparison to the principles of open education lead to the conclusion that OOCs have limited applicability in universities. To assess the applicability of OOCs in higher education, we studied the opinions of teachers of the Ural State Pedagogical University (Russian Federation) and Ariel University (Israel). The overwhelming majority of teachers are familiar with the ideas of OOC application, as well as with available OOC courses in their respective subjects. Several models of OOC use were developed and proposed for consideration. The views of the university teachers on OOC use were highly consistent. For professional training in universities, the main application of OOCs is in their use as supplementary educational material that does not replace a “live” course.