MOOC's

What is a MOOC?

A MOOC is a Massive, Open, Online Course.

• MOOC's are massive: MOOC's can have 400,000 - 500,000 registered students.
• Open usually means to register, you only need to provide your email address; and usually, there were no prerequisites.
  • Students usually register with a vendor, who forms partnerships with universities, but no FTE is generated.
  • But, more MOOC vendors are creating partnerships with universities to offer some type of verified certificate to students, that students have to pay for.
• MOOC's have only been offered online-you must have access to the internet to take a course.
• MOOC's are courses, that usually last between 4-6 weeks, though some are shorter and others longer.
  • Just like other courses, MOOC's usually provide a syllabus, recommended student background, course format (videos, quizzes), and the names of the instructors.

How did MOOC's get started?

According to A Short History of MOOC's and Distance Learning, there were two courses that used the term MOOC in 2008 and 2012:

1. In 2008, educators Stephen Downes and George Siemens offered the free, online course Connectivism and Connective Knowledge/2008 (CCK8), after teaching a similar credit course at the University of Manitoba. They used many different platforms to connect with over 2,000 students, such as Facebook, Wiki's, blogs, and forums.
2. In 2012, two Stanford Professors Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig offered their course for free and online, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence. More than 160,000 students in 190 countries signed up. Based on their experience, the professors developed Udacity.

Who offers MOOC's?

• Udacity, formed in 2012, a for-profit American company, was one of the first MOOC providers.
• Within one year, two more American start-ups for MOOCs appeared: Coursera and EdX.
  • Coursera is also a for-profit company, which provides courses in partnership with a large range of educational institutions.
  • EdX is a non-profit company, governed by MIT and Harvard, and according to their web site, strives to offer the "best of higher education", in person and online.
• There are now thousands of MOOC's being offered by universities, colleges, for-profit and non-profit companies.
  • You can explore MOOC's by using Course Central, the MOOC List or Open Culture.
• If you're interested in the best Higher Education MOOC's, check out this article, MOOCs: Top 10 Sites for Free Education With Elite Universities

What do I need to register for a MOOC?

• Usually, you need to provide your email address and create a password.

Where can I find more info about MOOC's?

• What is a Massive Open Online Course Anyway?