Page:The battle for open.pdf/128

 CHAPTER 6

Revolutions are nipped in the bud or else succeed too quickly. Passion is quickly exhausted. —

In the previous chapter the rise of MOOCs was plotted, and possible opportunities and reservations about them explored. Unlike almost any other educational development, MOOCs have attracted considerable media interest. In this chapter we will explore the underlying reasons for this. In Chapter 1, I argued that the battle for open was in part a battle for narrative, an argument that will be explored in this chapter. Although much of this chapter will focus on MOOCs, as they provide the most ready example of the conflation of education, technology and media, it can stand for any development and is of particular relevance to open education.