Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses that provide free and unlimited participation to learners.

1. The Advantages and Disadvantages
of MOOCs for Learning

2. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses that provide free
and unlimited participation to learners.
They offer interactive forums in combination with traditional teaching
methods. It is a custom eLearning method that supports self-paced learning.
MOOCs are divided into two categories:
• cMOOCs - Courses in which the material is developed through online collaboration among
participants worldwide.
• xMOOC - Courses in which a conventional approach is followed where the courses are
structured with pre-selected materials.

3. History of MOOCs
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• MOOCs were created in 2008 by George Siemens and Stephen Downs as
CCK08.
•Became popular in 2012 when the course ‘Introduction to Artificial
Intelligence’ was offered by professors from Stanford University.
•It was a huge success, with participants from 190 countries.
•Led to the creation of Udacity for online knowledge sharing.
•Other MOOCs providers are Coursera and EdX.

4. MOOC Advantages
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•Free courses are offered.
•Access to courses offered at top schools.
•Offered to learners from all over the world.
•The performance of participants can be easily monitored.
•Worldwide exposure for both professors and learners.
•It can be utilized in a blended learning program.

5. • There is no personalized courseware and attention.
• Tough to track the involvement of participants.
• It cannot be used by learners having disabilities or a poor Internet
connection.
• Language can be a barrier.
• It can’t be a credit-earning course.
MOOC Disadvantages
Despite drawbacks, MOOCs have the potential to change the way
we learn.
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