This document discusses Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It defines MOOCs as online courses that are open to unlimited participation and are conducted primarily through online platforms. The document outlines the history of MOOCs, which began in 2008 with a connectivist course attracting over 2,000 participants. It describes different types of MOOCs including cMOOCs based on connectivist learning theory and xMOOCs from institutions like edX focused on exploring new teaching models using technology. The document also discusses advantages and disadvantages of MOOCs for students and institutions.

1. Massive Open Online
Courses
Learning together in digital modes

2. What is a mooc?
 MOOCs are topic based and support network learning in which Internet
plays a vital role in daily activities.
 Participants all over the world
 Discussions are held in the online media and Outcome determined by
involvement and participation
 This means you learn in your own space, time and how ever you want,
therefore learning what interests you.
 It Provides experiences that prepare future teachers for education in
the digital age and for work in the knowledge of the economy.
 Connectivism is the combined effect of three components: chaos
theory, networks, and the interplay of complexity and self-organization

3. What is a mooc?
 The term MOOC was coined by Dave
Cormier or Bryan Alexander (Alexander,
2008; Cormier, 2008; Daniel, 2012; Masters
& Qaboos, 2011; G. Siemens, 2012a) to
describe a course on Connectivism (CCK08)
organized by George Siemens and Stephen
Downers in 2008, which attracted 2,200
participants (Downes, 2010).

4. A brief history of moocs
 2004: George Siemens & Stephen Downes develop
theory of Connectivism, “the thesis that knowledge
is distributed across a network of connections, and
therefore that learning consists of the ability to
construct and traverse those networks (Downes,
2012, p.9).
 Massive Open Online courses were created to help
students learn and stay connected, The first course -
“Connectivism and Connective Knowledge.

5. SO ………..WHY MOOC?

MOOCs can profile
an institution as a
leading 21st
Century
educational
institution.
MOOCs
provide an
opportunity
for an
institution to
experiment
with teaching
practices and
to engage
with new
pedagogical
An institution
can make
knowledge more
accessible to the
general public
through offering
a range of MOO
Institutions have a
range of subject
areas that are
specific to their
region e.g. HK SAR /
China context and
HKU can showcase
these subjects
through offering
MOOC courses.

6. The MOOC LANGUAGE’

s
Massive, focus and
commitment.
open
registration,
open content
Scripted
assessmen
ts and
feedback.
Local
cohorts
real time
interaction
Self passed, role
of the instructor
Courses available online

7. Advantages and disadvantages of mooc
Pros
 Free unless college credit is
offered
 Learning is informal and at
student’s own pace
 Computer and internet access are
only resources needed
 Students can share work, critique
others and receive feedback
 Great instructors without high
tuition of host school
Cons
 moocs involve costs, sometimes
significant
 Limited real-world engagement
(face time)
 Technical difficulties
 Academic dishonesty possible
 Students must learn to be
responsible for their own learning

8. 4 types of MOOC activities
 Aggregate – read, watch and play with various resources
 Remix – keep track of it all, using various (web) technologies of one’s choice
 Repurpose – constructing personal accounts, composing own thoughts,
creating new understandings of the course subject
 Feed Forward – share the learning with others, when and where each person
chooses to do so
 Higher Education - Broader audience, Better informed students
 Tertiary institutions will have to follow
 Challenge in Africa

9. Types of moocs
.
Cmooc
 Multiple technologies – 12 in this first MOOC – are used to
connect people participating in the course.
 Based on a Connectivist Learning Theory
 On the fringes but cutting edge in terms of pedagogy and
technologies
 Students working collaboratively both in classroom
and online

10. sMooc
 Founded in the fall of 2011 by Daphne Koller (Stanford) and Andrew Ng (Stanford)
and was launched in April 2012 after significant venture capital funding was
secured (MarketWire, 2012).
 Grounded in behaviorist learning theory with some cognitive components and
some constructivist components.
 This means transmission style teaching with drill and practice, problem sets and
e.g. discussion forums.
 Uses a limited range of technologies and could be thought of in terms of LMS as
platform.
 Very much in the mainstream with monetization a key component.
 There is a lack of pedagogical focus which may have to do with the fact that
Coursera institutions consider MOOCs to be a side line activity rather than a way
to explore new / better teaching and learning models (Armstrong, 2012; Daniel,
2012).

11. xMOOC
 the X signifying excellence, external outreach, exploration, experimentation
and expansion (Rodrick & Sun, 2012) – holds for edX which has grown out of a
tradition of exploring online teaching and learning (Daniel, 2012).
 At the time of writing edX has 33 courses (edX, 2013a) offered by HarvardX,
MITx and BerkeleyX.
 Beginning in fall 2013, edX will offer courses from another 11 universities. In
2014, edX will expand further through offering courses from an additional 9
universities
 Much more selective than Coursera and will cap when they have recruited
the best universities in the world.
 EdX is making statements about courses designed specifically for the web
 Underlying pedagogies / technologies may not be that different at the
moment but there seems to be an ongoing commitment to quality content
creation / exploring technologies for effective teaching.

12. My fields of interest
The cMooc
 I would like to get to know the c Moose course because it
is interesting to be able to connect to other people
globally.
 As I will so like to pursue this field I will be able to get
answer on these following questions.
 What are the pedagogies that underpin the MOOC?
 What use is being made of technologies in the MOOC?
 What is the underlying philosophy / ethos of the MOOC?
 All these are what a moose is all about and what it is all
for.

13. Refferences
 Wiley, David. "The MOOC Misnomer". July 2012
 Jump up ^ Cheverie, Joan. "MOOCs an Intellectual Property: Ownership and
Use Rights". Retrieved 18 April 2013.
 Jump up ^ David F Carr (20 August 2013). "Udacity hedges on open licensing
for MOOCs". Information Week. Retrieved 21 August 2013
 Saettler, L. Paul (1968). A History of Instructional Technology. New York:
McGraw Hill. ISBN 0070544107.
 Jump up ^ J.J. Clark, "The Correspondence School—Its Relation to Technical
Education and Some of Its Results," Science (1906) 24#611 pp. 327–334 in
JSTOR
 Jump up ^ Joseph F. Kett, Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties: From Self-
Improvement to Adult Education in America (1996) pp 236–8