Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Tetrad
- ViviaMay Pitter
- Jun 25, 2015
- 3 min read
Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) are free higher education courses that are open to any internet user (Chen, Barnett, & Stephens, 2013) and offered by universities on a variety of subjects, topics, and disciplines. MOOCs are tools that expand and enrich a toolkit for learning and teaching (Kolwich, 2013). The following presentation on will view MOOCs through the perspective of McLuhan’s Law of Media.
Enhances: What does it do that is new?
MOOCs enhance flipped classrooms, blended learning, self-directed learning, gamification of the learning process, instant feedback, and ongoing professional development. They enhance flipped classrooms because they offer students and teachers instructional content to read, watch, and study before going to class. Teachers do not have to recreate videos or course material of their own they can use the ones presented in MOOCs to enhance their classrooms. In the same light, teachers can leverage the MOOCs' materials for the blended learning classroom thus offering a rich knowledge based course.
MOOCs can also enhance instant feedback given to students because the inherent design of MOOCs usually have built in “auto-graded multiple choice or short answer quizzes, and assignments” (Hollands & Tirthali, 2014, p. 30). Some MOOCs also have discussion forums where students can interact with their peers and or the course facilitator. The provision of instant feedback can also be in the form of games which enhances the learning process. The gamification of the learning process in MOOCs boost retention of students and the use of digital badges have become a preferred alternative credentials in MOOCs for education and professional development (Nielson, 2014).
Finally, MOOCs enhance professional development by allowing the trainees to access the information long after the established training time has ended (Hollands & Tirthali, 2014). Professional development sessions can become self-directed and self-paced to allow for a timely delivery and access of information at the learners instructional level. Also, MOOCs can provide teachers with ongoing free professional development that establishes a community of practitioners (Nielson, 2014) where teachers can receive support and innovative strategies to enrich their classsrooms.
Obsolete: What does it obsolete/replace?
MOOCs can eventually replace traditional education courses in brick and mortar institutions. Students can access MOOCs from any location and do not have to travel to a college campus to acquire knowledge. MOOCs will also obsolete short- term continuing education courses (Hollands & Tirthali, 2014) that students used to take to continue to build their lifelong learning repertoire. Likewise, the practice of auditing courses for the purpose of acquiring knowledge will become obsolete if students can gain the same knowledge by participating in MOOCs.
Rekindle or Retrieve: What does it rekindle from the past?
MOOCs will rekindle the correspondence courses that were very popular before the Internet and online courses displaced them. Correspondence courses were the only type of distance learning courses in existence for many years. They were sent by postal mail and students had to depend on the mail for feedback. MOOCs will also retrieve the distance learning idea of independent studies (Hollands & Tirthali, 2014) in higher education institutions when students were given the option, due to varied factors, of doing an independent study instead of attending face to face classes. Additionally, MOOCs will rekindle the active learning model of education that places responsibility for learning in the hands of the learner.
Reverses: What does it flip into when pushed to the extreme?
MOOCs will reverse Self-paced, self-directed learning, true personalized learning, self-designed learning and structured learning. MOOCs by nature encourage self-direction, personalization, and self-pacing of the learning process. Because of these characteristics, MOOCs, when pushed to the extreme, could be replaced by self-designed learning where learners will not only access content they wish to study, but research and design courses they wish to study.
References
Chen, X., Barnett, D. R., & Stephens, C. (2013). Fad or Future: The Advantages and
Challenges of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Retrieved from https://www.lindenwood.edu/r2p/docs/ChenBarnettStephens.pdf
Hollands, F. M., & Tirthali, D. (2014). MOOCs: Expectatin and Reality. NY: Center for
Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, Teachers College Columbia University. Retrieved from http://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MOOCs_Expectations_and_Reality.pdf
Kolwich, S. (2013). The minds behind the MOOCs. The professor who make the MOOCs.
Retrieved from The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Professors-Behind-the-MOOC/137905/#id=overview
Nielson, B. (2014). Megatrends in MOOCs: #7 Gamification. Retrieved from Your Training
Edge: http://www.yourtrainingedge.com/megatrends-in-moocs-7-gamification/
Video Links
What is a MOOC? https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=92&v=eW3gMGqcZQc
Anant Agarwal: Why missively open online courses (still) matter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYwTA5RA9eU
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