This document summarizes the history and current state of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). It discusses the first MOOC offered in 2008 and the launch of major MOOC providers like Udacity, Coursera, and edX in 2012. It also describes the differences between cMOOCs (based on connectivist principles) and xMOOCs (focused on traditional course formats). Finally, it discusses opportunities and challenges of MOOCs for libraries and ways that librarians can get involved through activities like content curation, professional learning networks, and embedded librarianship.

1. SJSU
October 7, 2013
Valerie Hill, Phd
Valibrarian

2. A MOOC is a massively open online
course (usually free and without
earning credit) aimed at large-scale
participation and open access on the
web.
MOOCs can be described as “webinars on steroids” (Bell, 23).

4. First MOOC Offered in 2008
“Connectivism and Connective Knowledge”
Created by George Siemens and Stephen
Downes at the University of Manitoba
2008 Dave Cormier and Bryan Alexander
coined the phrase “Massive Open Online
Course”

5. 2012 marked the launch of three major
providers of MOOCs, Udacity, Coursera, and
edX

6.  Founded by Stanford professors
Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens, and
Mike Sokolsky
 Includes 25 courses focused on
business, mathematics, computer
science and physics

7.  Founded by computer science professors
Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller from
Stanford University
 Offers 455 courses from 81 partners in 25
different categories

8.  MOOC platform founded in 2012 by MIT
and Harvard
 Partners with 29 colleges and
universities
 75 courses are available for
registration

9. xMOOCs vs. cMOOCs

10.  Traditional course/lecture format
 Focus on knowledge duplication
 Emphasis on video presentations
 Follow a linear, instructor lead path
 Objective feedback from online quiz results

11.  Based on the principles of Connectivism
 Focus on knowledge creation
 Emphasis on social networked learning
 Course path evolves from student input
 Crowd sourced learning through peer
interaction

12. Coursera’s Gamification MOOC
Coursera’s Metadata MOOC

15. MOOCs on Library
and
InformationTopics

16. Metadata MOOC Study Group

17.  Connected Learning MOOC
OnTwitter #clmooc
Sponsored by the National
Writing Project
 Anne Frank MOOC

18. Sponsored by
the National
Writing Project

19. Fall 2012
Educators met weekly for MOOC
office hours onWed. evenings.
Assignments presented in
a 3D virtual world.
Students “enter”
the cramped annex
where Anne lived
in hiding during
WWII.

21. Collaboration Across Distance
Meeting for “class
in the park in
Amsterdam”

23. Both #Clmooc and Anne Frank MOOC reflection recorded
in Google Hangouts.

24.  No cost (or low cost)
 Personal interest
 Convenient (no travel)
 Access to experts and global participants

25.  Lack of assessment
 Accreditation & quality assurance
 Future of academic careers
 Potential for isolation

26.  Literature review
 Content curation
 Developing a PLN
 Joining online groups (ACRL MOOC listserv)

28. ACRL
VirtualWorld Interest Group
Feb. 17th, 2013
Panelists:
Valerie Hill, PhD
Michelle Keba
Ilene Frank
George Djorgovski

29. “…Student research and critical thinking skills
are not so simply accomplished in this
environment (Cantrell, 2013).”
Cantrell’s study demonstrates need for
embedded librarianship.

30. “…one can readily see overlap between the
MOOC‘s opportunity to provide global
learning environments and the kindred
opportunity for librarians to investigate and
incorporate metaliteracies into the MOOC
curriculum in collaboration with MOOC faculty
(Cantrell, 2013).”

31. Can a MOOC take place in a virtual world?
Massive (virtual worlds can hold only so
many avatars)
Open (virtual worlds are open on a global
scale)
Online (virtual worlds are online)
Courses (Courses can take place- both
synchronous and asychronous)

32. •Taking the library to new spaces
•Embedded librarians
•Redesigning our physical spaces
•Balancing tradition & innovation

34. “Of course this puts the responsibility
for information gathering, the validation
of resources, and the learning process in
the hands of learners themselves, and
one should question if all adult learners
are capable of taking on this
responsibility (2012, Kop et al.).”

35. “It may be that the great age of libraries is waning, but I
am here to tell you that the great age of librarians is
just beginning. It’s up to you to decide if you want to be
a part of it.”
~T. Scott Plutchak

36. Valerie Hill, PhD
http://vhill.edublogs.org/
vhilledu@gmail.com
@valibrarian

37. Anne Frank MOOC. (2013). Anne Frank MOOC Reflection. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-
LpnY6AhLw&feature=share
[Accessed August 15, 2013].
Bell, M. (2012). Massive open online courses. Internet@schools, 19(5), 23-25.
Cantrell, L. (2013). (in press) Internet Learning.
CLmooc. (2013) #CLMOOC Make Cycle 4, Satuday Morning Hangout: Credos and Their Values
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sid7RqQW5U8&feature=share [Accessed October 6, 2013]
Crews, Kenneth. (2012). MOOCs, Distance Education, and Copyright: Two Wrong Questions to Ask.
Columbia University Libraries Copyright Advisory Office.
http://copyright.columbia.edu/copyright/2012/11/09/moocs-distance-education-and-copyright-two-wrong-
questions-to-ask/ [Accessed September 29, 2013].
Keba, M,. Rayl, H., Frank, I., and Hill. V. Massive Open Online Courses.
http://www.slideshare.net/valibrarian/massive-open-online-courses-the-future-of-learning-24073209 [Accessed
September 1, 2013].
Kop, R., Fournier, H., & Mak, J. (2011). A Pedagogy of Abundance or a Pedagogy to Support Human Beings?
Participant Support on Massive Open Online Courses. International Review Of Research In Open And
Distance Learning, 12(7), 74-93. http://bit.ly/17xC1dz [Accessed September 1, 2012].
Plutchak, T. Scott. 2007. The Librarian: Fantastic Adventures in the Digital World. Serials, 20(2), 87-91.
Valibrarian. (20130. Anne Frank MOOC: a virtual learning experience http://youtu.be/P-SXsluRDTQ [Accessed
October 6, 2013].
References