The document discusses opportunities and challenges that MOOCs present for libraries. It begins with an introduction to MOOCs, describing their emergence in 2011 and growth since then. It then outlines various types of MOOCs and reasons why people participate in them, including for professional development, accessible education, and career exploration. The document notes opportunities for libraries to shape higher education conversations and support students participating in MOOCs by providing resources and internet access. However, it also discusses challenges like copyright risks and establishing grounds for network access when working with open online courses. Overall, the document examines how MOOCs could align with library missions to promote lifelong learning.

1. MOOCs:
Opportunities and
Challenges for Libraries
Dr. Sandra Hirsh
Professor and Director

2. WELCOME
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the
lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats
Image:
ttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:Maasai_people_and_a_tourist_lighting_a_fire_in_a_Maasai_village_on_the_A109_road,_Kenya.jpg

3. 3
Presenters & Topics
Introduction to MOOCs
Sandra Hirsh, San Jose State University School of Information, USA
MOOCs for Professional Development
Michael Stephens, San Jose State University School of Information
USA
MOOCs and Library and Information Science Schools
Wendy Newman, University of Toronto iSchool, Canada
MOOCs and Public Libraries
John Szabo, Los Angeles Public Library, USA
MOOCs as Access to Information in Developing
Countries
Loida Garcia-Febo, Information New Wave, USA
MOOCs and Open Education Initiatives
Jan Holmquist, Guldborgsund Librarires, Nykøbing Falster, Denmark

4. 4
What is a MOOC?
Image: http://www.globalvision.com.au/archives/1152
“A course of study made available over the
Internet without charge to a very large number of
people.”
(Oxford Dictionaries, 2013)

5. 5
Types of MOOCs
xMOOCs –
• small manageable chunks of information
• frequently delivered in video lecture style
formats
• supported by multiple-choice assessments
used to provide feedback on performance
cMOOCs –
• learner-centered
• collaborative - based on learning through
relationships and connections.

6. 6
Emergence of the MOOC
2011
• Stanford University opened two of their artificial
intelligence courses to the public over the Internet
• 100,000 people signed up
2012
• “The year of the MOOC"
• Higher education formed three major MOOC
platform and distribution companies —
Udacity, Coursera, and edX
• Top U.S. universities begin offering MOOCs
2014
• More than 800 open online courses available,
• Faculty and course content from more than 200 of
the best-known universities in the world
• Many millions of students have enrolled

7. 7
“MOOCs have exploded in [a]
short time, redefining who can
enroll in college courses, as well
as where, when and even why
people take online classes.”
Alan Finder (2013)

8. MOOC Objectives
(Allen & Seaman, 2014, p. 25)

9. 9
MOOC Objectives – Education
MOOCs are appropriate for:
• continuing education
• non-degree programs
• technical training
Biggest value of MOOCs:
• keep up with new developments in education
• raise visibility of the school
• improve quality of residential teaching
Biggest drawback of MOOCs
• lack of consistent review and grading system
• high cost of development and implementation
• high time commitment
(Afshar, 2013)

10. 10
Why Participate in a MOOC?
• Professional Development
• Convenient and Accessible
• College Readiness
• Career Exploration
• Self-blending learning
• Self-paced learning
(advantage for disabled students)
• Bolstering college and job applications
• Developing connected learning competencies

11. MOOCs and Libraries

12. 12
MOOCs and Libraries:
Opportunities and Challenges
Opportunities
• Shape the conversation about changes in higher
education
• provide the Internet connection and resource
access that students need to succeed in a
MOOC. (Chant, 2013)
• Providing resources to MOOC students
• Ensure people have the chance to
participate(Chant)
Challenges
• Mitigating copyright risk
• Establishing grounds for network access
• New licensing models (opening up resources to a
greater audience)

13. 13
“Getting MOOCs to work for people who
just need to hone their skills for their
own use, whether it is repairing a car or
programming in Python, is surely in line
with library missions. Libraries may also
be able to take lessons from MOOC-style
learning to drive social engagement for
existing programs.”
(Chant, 2013)

14. International Impact of MOOCs
Anyone…
Anywhere…
Anytime…

15. 15
Thank you for attending!
Dr. Sandy Hirsh, Professor and Director
sandy.hirsh@sjsu.edu
Facebook: facebook.com/sjsuischool
Twitter: twitter.com/sjsuischool
Pinterest: pinterest.com/sjsuischool
http://ischool.sjsu.edu/