This document provides an overview of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It discusses what MOOCs are, including their history beginning in 2004, how they work by reducing instructor contact and relying on self-organized study groups, and different types of MOOCs. The document also outlines the pros and cons of MOOCs, major MOOC platforms, and how MOOCs may change education by allowing free, accessible learning worldwide.

1. Lerato desiree Ntsimane
201177240
Professional studies 3A

3. CONTENT
 WHAT IS MOOCS
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MOOCS
 HOW MOOCS WORK
 TYPES OF MOOCS
 MOOCS TIMELINE
 PROS AND CONS OF MOOCS
 MOOCS LANDSCAPE AND PLATFORMS
 HOW WILL MOOCS CHANGE EDUCATION?
 REFERENCES

5. What is MOOCS
 Massive Open Online Courses are classes that are offered to a large
number of students, over the internet, for free with essentially unlimited
enrolment.
 In a typical MOOC, students watch short video lectures online and
complete assignments that are graded either by machines or by their
peers.
 MOOCs generate massive quantities of data about learner behavior,
which can be used to understand cognitive growth and how to improve
instruction.

7. BRIEF HISTORY OF MOOCS
 2004: George Siemens and Stephen Downes develop theory of connectivism, the thesis
of that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that
learning consists of the ability to construct a traverse those network Downes, 2012, p.9)
 2008: first MOOC presented at university of Manitoba with – 2200 learners
 2010: Dave Cormier videos about MOOCs added to You Tube (Cormier, 2010)
 2011: MOOC for college prep skills helps freshmen prepare for college requirements
(Cormier, 2011)
 2012: Harvard’s first MOOC has 370,000 registered students (Pappano, 2012)
 2012: Coursera launches from Standford; offers first xMOOCs (Chen, 2012)
 -new York times calls 2012 “the year of MOOC” pappano,2012
 2012: edX by Harvard and MIT; Coursera, a Standford company; and Udacity, which
focuses on science and tech
 2013: cMOOCs and xMOOCs too numerous to count accurately

8. How MOOCs Work
MOOCs are online courses where lectures are typically “canned,” quizzes and
testing are automated, and student participation is voluntary. They attain large
scale by reducing instructor contact with individual students, students often rely on
self-organized study and discussion groups.

9. Types and taxonomy of MOOCs not from the institutional
but the pedagogic perspective.[open the link below]
http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/moocs-taxonomy-of-8-types-
of-mooc.html

10. MOOCS TIMELINE
 These early MOOCs were less about presenting content and more
about connecting learners. The term C-MOOC refers to a MOOC
designed to emphasize connecting learners. C-MOOC stands for
Connectivist MOOC. C-MOOCs are built upon the idea and platform
originally envisioned by George Siemens. X-MOOCs have their
background in the rise of open course ware. In the image below you
can see a timeline of MOOC development. [NEXT SLIDE]

12. MOOCS PROS & CONS
PROS
 Are free
 Force professors to improve lectures.
 Are designed to ensure that students
keep up.
 Bring people together from all over
the world.
 Allow teachers to make the most of
classroom time in blended classes.
 Offer interesting business
opportunities.
CONS
 Could cause teachers to become
nothing more than "glorified teaching
assistants.“
 Make discussion a challenge.
 Make it easier for students to drop
out.
 Grading papers is impossible.

13. MOOCS LANDSCAPE AND
PLATFORMS
 http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/odvce/2013/02/curtin-university-moocs-thinking-
content-platform-partnership/

14. HOW WILL MOOCS CHANGE EDUCATION?
 MOOCs are already a big hit in rural communities and developing
countries where people don’t have as much access to traditional
schools. But, they may eventually impact the way people everywhere
learn and get an education.
 MOOCs will allow people to educate themselves based on what they
want to learn. Stay-at-home parents can take real classes in their spare
time to stay current, business people can improve their resumes, and
high schoolers can get a head start on college.

15. REFERENCES
 Clark, D (2013) MOOCs: taxonomy of 8 types of MOOCs
http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2013/04/moocs-taxonomy-of-8-types-
of-mooc.html
 Daniel, J (2012). Making Sense of MOOCs: Musing in a Maze of Myth, Paradox
and Possibility. Journal of Interactive Media in Education. [CC-BY].
 Reiser, R. A. (2001). A History of Instructional Design and Technology: Part1: A
History of Instructional Media. Educational Technology Research and
Development, 49(1), 53-64.
 Masters, K..,& Qaboos, S.(2011). A Brief Guide To Understand MOOCs. The
Internet Journal of Medical Education, 1(2), 2-6. doi: 10.5580/1f21.