Massively Open Online Courses
A Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) is an emerging model for interactive online learning experiences designed to accommodate possibly unlimited numbers of learners who potentially arrive, attend, participate, and leave on their own terms. MOOCs can take advantage of existing social media and gaming environments as platforms to host both formal and informal learning experiences.
Opportunity Statement
MOOCs are primarily a ‘mash up’ opportunity domain, where new ventures will orchestrate trends, tools, and applications to serve audiences and their learning demands in creative, accessible and typically non-traditional ways. There are exciting opportunities for disruptively new ventures, and for existing ventures to pioneer new markets.
Prediction Source(s)
Posted in: Emerging Markets Poll
Doug Connery 8:21 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Post secondary institutes spend too much money developing courses that already exist with other institutes and as MOOC’s. This is a way to reduce duplication and costs and be more efficient taxpayer dollars.
pcollins 4:18 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My concern would be how realistic is this? The people who have the ability to design the tools for such a venture are not necessarily the people who actually have the knowledge that needs to be learned. I read an article last semester that brought up this very point. There was no easy way to get the designers and the field experts to collaborate. It seems great in theory
Paula Poodwan 8:10 pm on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
MOOC is an excellent idea for eager students who want to learn and don’t care about receiving credits or diplomas. I like the idea that the students who enrolled at the institution and the “open” students who pay nothing and who will receive no credit can interact and of course that will add variety and different points of view to the class. However too much information (posts) and interaction can be overwhelming for everyone too , and not to mention the workload for the instructor.
coralk 5:30 pm on September 9, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I’m very interested to see how MOOCs will progress and what the future will be for these courses, especially now that some institutions are starting to offer credit for certain MOOCs as early as this fall (probably for a fee and some additional assignments so then does that still even qualify as a MOOC?)
Ranvir 3:45 pm on September 11, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
MOOC’s are an excellent way to learn from some of the industry’s sought after brains and interested individual across the globe. I am currently taking a MOOC course in Gamification at Coursera and really like the learning experience…
melissaayers 8:44 am on September 12, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I really like the idea of massively open online courses. Coming from working with underprivileged youths initially I thought this type of course is ideal especially as it can economise on the costs and can be delivered anywhere at anytime. However, now I realise in general in their current this type of course is not for people who do not already have a reasonable educational background and are very self motivated/organised. Furthermore, they need to also have access to the relevant hardware, software and network infrastructure to participate – something usually not available to the target audience whom I used to think this type of initiative would be most beneficial for. That said for the right audience I feel there is huge potential in this domain and the offering available in iTuneU, Khan Academy etc are just in their infancy.
As Doug mentioned I also believe there is room to economise (and improve quality at the same time) on course creation and delivery via this type of initiative.