MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)
A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is a freely accessible and highly participatory online course open to all. In addition to traditional course materials such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive user forums to support community interactions among students, professors, and teaching assistants (TAs).[1]
Five fundamentals to MOOCs are:[2]
- Interactive Learning
Students are encouraged to interact with the different lesson plans and formats the course offers and research has shown that interacting with content is more effective for learning.
- Self-facing
All coursework is self-directed and only the student takes responsibility for their progress and how successful the course was in the end.
- Instant feedback
Students do not have to wait for professors to grade their assignments due to automatic online grading allowing the student to respond to the feedback right away.
- Gamification
Gamification techniques like creating online labs and rewarding students after reaching certain learning objectives encourages students to engage with materials.
- Peer Learning
Through discussion forums and various instant messaging tools, students are encouraged to help each other understand the material better.
Some of the most popular subjects to learn through MOOCs are:[3]
- Coding and Computer Science
- Data Science and Data Analytics
- Business and Management
- Languages
- Biology and Life Sciences
- Engineering
Contents
History
2007 – Before the term was even coined, the first MOOC was created by Mike Feerick, CEO of ALISON (Advance Learning Interactive Systems ONline).[4]
2008 – The term “MOOC" was coined during the course "Connectivism and Connective Knowledge" by Dave Cormier, from the University of Prince Edward Island. [5]
2011 – Stanford professors Peter Norvig and Sebastian Thrun created Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, a course that attracted 160,000 students from 190 countries.[6]
2012 – Popularity of MOOCs rapidly increased at this time and The New York Times named 2012 “The Year of the MOOC”. [7]
2016 – Over 58 million registered users of at least one MOOC. [8]
Growth & Changes
Since 2008, more subjects have become available as MOOCs and more MOOCs have become available throughout different times of the year. When MOOCs originated, they were essentially college coursework uploaded online, with strict deadlines and a final exam. Now, MOOCs have adapted to unique user needs by offering shorter courses with soft deadlines (as long as all work is completed by the end of the session). A typical MOOC is six to twelve weeks long with weekly or bi-weekly assignment deadlines.
Business Model
All MOOCs courses are “open” in the sense that you are not paying to participate in the course and the materials are all open-sourced. This model does not generate revenue so to solve this practical problem, some institutions make the materials close-sourced and students pay to get access to the material or to get credits from the institution. Some MOOCs providers make revenue from selling ad space on their site or selling related content. The industry has similar network economics to Amazon, eBay and Google in that “content producers go to where most consumers are, and consumers go to where the most content is.”[9].
Providers
Most MOOCs are hosted on pre-existing platforms that are constantly evolving. Top providers include:
- Coursera – 2368 courses offered
- edX – 1338 courses offered
- Udacity – 173 courses offered
- FutureLearn – 504 courses offered
- Canvas Network – 417 courses offered
- Independent – 223 courses offered
Benefits
- All materials are open so the cost is cheaper than tuition at a university, but high academic standards through internal auditing are still met.
- A course is freely accessible so users can decide when and where to participate.
- The courses are self-directed so students can go at their own pace.
- MOOCs provide educators an opportunity to reach a much larger and more diverse audience than they could in a physical space.
- MOOCs provide students an opportunity to learn from top educators.
- There are no requirements to join a MOOC.
Overall MOOCs are a more affordable and flexible way to learn a new skill or educate oneself further on a subject. They are a way to connect and collaborate while developing digital skills. [10]
Challenges & Criticisms
- Research[11] has shown blended learning (a combination of face-to-face and online learning) is most effective.
- Policies for data sharing are difficult to create and uphold.
- Student anonymity can pose a problem for research on the effectiveness of MOOCs courses.
- Producing a MOOC can be expensive.
- Companies do not value accredited MOOC education as much as traditional coursework.
Future of MOOCs
With the world being more connected and having higher enrollment rates than ever[12], MOOCs are expected to continue growing and disrupt traditional higher education models.
