Monday, December 17, 2012

What is a MOOC?



It's all the buzz in the online learning community, but what is a MOOC?

MOOC stands for:

Massive Open Online Course

While Online or Distance Learning has been around for awhile, a MOOC, as it is in its current format, is a relatively new concept.  Access to free courses has allowed students to obtain a level of education that many could only dream of in the past.  But what does it all mean?  Well, it's massive...as in potentially thousands of people can take a course all at once.  The courses are usually free and do not offer any type of formal college credit.  Many major universities, such as Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Duke, Harvard, UCLA, Yale and Carnegie Mellon, have jumped on board the MOOC train recently.

Like anything, MOOCS have a good share of pros and cons.

Pros
  • Free - Open for anyone who is interested

  • Global learning opportunity

  • Great way to network

  • Informal, online setting
Cons
  • Hard to regulate

  • Little to no interaction with professor with a class this size

  • No college credit given for course completion

  • Lack of regulation
What does this mean for us here at Stevenson University?  It is too early to tell but one thing is for sure, this will not be the last you've heard of a MOOC.

1 comment:

  1. What a waste. I think it would be good for the child's garden of information.

    ReplyDelete