Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

What Is a MOOC? 

A massive open online course (MOOC) is a model for delivering learning content online to any person who wants to take a course, with no limit on attendance. This updated ELI 7 Things You Should Know About MOOCs II (June 2013) provides additional key facts about MOOCs.

Upcoming Events

• Beyond MOOCs: Is IT Creating a New, Connected Age?  July 30–August 1, 2013. A 3-day EDUCAUSE Sprint.

• ELI Short Course: Designing and Delivering a Quality MOOC, June 17, 24, and 27th, 2013

Additional MOOC Resources

• MOOCs, Hype, and the Precarious State of Higher Ed: Futurist Bryan Alexander,  June 2013.  In this video, Howard Rheingold and Bryan Alexander discuss MOOCs, Social Media and the place of liberal education in these environments.
• The MOOC Research Initiative (MRI) is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of a set of investments intended to explore the potential of MOOCs to extend access to postsecondary credentials through more personalized, more affordable pathways.
• The Pedagogical Foundations of Massive Open Online Courses, First Monday, May 2013. The authors examine scholarly literature on the learning characteristics used by MOOCs to see if they do improve learning outcomes.
• The Pedagodgy of MOOCs, May 11, 2013. This Paul Stacy blog posting provides a brief history of MOOCs, the early success in Canada and the author's own pedagogical recommendations for MOOCs.
• What Campus Leaders Need to Know About MOOCs,” EDUCAUSE, December 2012. This brief discusses how MOOCs work, their value proposition, issues to consider, and who the key players are in this arena.
• Laptop U: Has the Future of College Moved Online? The New Yorker, May 20th, 2013. Nathan Heller explores various MOOCs and their possible future in higher education.
• The MOOC Model: Challenging Traditional Education, EDUCAUSE Review Online (January/February 2013), A turning point will occur in the higher education model when a MOOC-based program of study leads to a degree from an accredited institution — a trend that has already begun to develop.
• General copyright issues for Coursera/MOOC courses, Penn Libraries created a copyright resource page for schools using the MOOC Coursera platform. This page provides an overview of special copyright considerations when using Coursera.
• Online Courses Look for a Business Model, Wall Street Journal, January 2013. MOOC providers, Udacity, Coursera and edX, seek to generate revenue while they continue to experiment with open platforms.
• Massive Open Online Courses as Drivers for Change, CNI Fall Meeting, December 2012. Speaker Lynne O'Brien discusses Duke University's partnership with Coursera, and their experiments with massive open online courses (MOOCs)
• MOOCs: The Coming Revolution?, EDUCAUSE 2012 Annual Conference. This November 2012 session informs viewers about Coursera and the impact it is having on online education and altering pedagogy, provides insights into how and why one university joined that partnership.
• The Year of the MOOC, New York Times, November 2, 2012. MOOCs have been around in one form or another for a few years as collaborative tech oriented learning events, but this is the year everyone wants in.
• Massive Open Online Courses: Legal and Policy Issues for Research Libraries, ARL, October 22, 2012. This issue brief addresses policy questions regarding MOOCs, open access, fair use, and research libraries. 
• What You Need to Know About MOOC's,” Chronicle of Higher Education. CHE’s collection of MOOC-related articles.
• Challenge and Change,” EDUCAUSE Review (September/October 2012). Author George Mehaffy discusses various aspects of innovative disruption facing higher education including MOOCs.
• A True History of the MOOC,” September 26, 2012. In this webinar panel presentation delivered to Future of Education through Blackboard Collaborate, host Steve Hargadon discusses the "true history" of the MOOC. It’s also available in mp3.
• The MOOC Guide. This resource offers an online history of the development of the MOOC as well as a description of its major elements.
• MOOC.CA. This MOOC-centric newsletter, authored by Stephen Downes and George Siemens, offers news and information on MOOC providers.
• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Constituent Group. This EDUCAUSE constituent group takes a broad look at MOOCs as a paradigm of learning communities and open education.
• Reviews for Open Online Courses is a Yelp like review system from CourseTalk for students to share their experiences with MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses).

MOOCs of Interest

• Current/Future State of Higher Education 2012. Eleven organizations, including EDUCAUSE, have come together to provide a course that will evaluate the change pressures that face universities and help universities prepare for the future state of higher education.

MOOC Providers

• Coursera
• edX
• Udacity