This document provides an overview of massive open online courses (MOOCs). It discusses the origins of MOOCs from early open courseware projects at MIT and the formation of edX, Coursera and Udacity. Key aspects of MOOCs are described such as their open enrollment, lack of fees/prerequisites and format of online video lectures. Both potential benefits and concerns about MOOCs are outlined. The document also briefly introduces OER Commons, an online library for open educational resources.

1. SALESMAN WIKI PRESENTATION
EDU 6054
Week 3
Seyeom Kim
Meghan Greene
Alex Fronduto
Victoria Hui
11/06/2013

2. MASSIVE ONLINE OPEN COURSEWARE
(MOOCS)
•
MOOCs share many similarities
with a typical online course in terms
of delivery, such as weekly topics
and a predefined timeline.
•
MOOCs, as stated in their
name, have large enrollments and
generally have “no fees, no
prerequisites other than Internet
access and interest, no predefined
expectations for participation, and
no formal accreditation”
(Martin, 2012, p. 26).

3. ORIGINATION OF MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE
COURSES (MOOCS)
•
MIT created MITx an interactive learning platform which later evolved to Open Course
Ware (OCW) a repository for over 2,000 free courses which were easy to adapt to and
had a re-mix of content.
•
Harvardx joined MIT & Harvard to create Edx. Later UC Berkeley joined the non-profit
group and a total of 7 classes were offered to cover topics related to STEM across the
world.
•
Coursera and Udacity for profit companies also emerged and included
Princeton, Stanford, Umich, and UPenn. These courses offered topics from wide ranges.
Udacity had a different approach and worked directly with instructors and courses
focusing on STEM which geared towards individual learners. Coursera setup agreements
directly with universities.
•
MOOCs are generally 8-15 weeks long and work based on quarter systems or
semesters. Typically, videos of faculty are posted online and accessible to audiences
who have access to the internet. One important piece to note is that tuition is not
charged.

4. PROS AND CONS FOR OFFERING MOOCS
Pros
1. Eliminate geographical/economic barriers
2. Create a diverse learning environment
3. Promote lifelong learning
4. Expand learning opportunities
5. Augment face to face and traditional education; Accessibility
Cons
1. What is the new environment or learning experience?
2. Instructional quality. Also trying to measure and evaluate.
3. Assessment/certification credentials.
4. Undefined focus.

5. POTENTIAL CONCERNS & LONGEVITY OF
MOOCS
•
Overall long term concerns are evident given that the resources to run
MOOCs may run out. Funding initiatives and business proposals are not
currently in place.
•
As enrollment increases, how are we going to support the staff, and
instructors who are involved in creating MOOCs.
•
The goals and objectives are not clearly defined. The focus of the program is
too broadly defined.

6. FUTURE OF MOOCS
•
As enrollment increases and MOOCs become more popular, how do you
keep the system in place without offering incentives for credit or towards a
particular degree? Organizations cannot generate revenue to keep the
courses running without charging tuition and fees.
•
The futures of MOOCs are indefinite and lack substantial data to figure out
the true purpose of what these courses are supposed to offer to the world. It
will be interesting to see how MOOCs develop in the near future. Will it have
enough momentum and interest to last?

7. STUDENT PATTERNS IN MOOCS
•
MOOCs can have upwards of
100,000 students enrolled in a
course at one time.
•
MOOCs are typically offered for
free or for a small fee.
•
MOOCs could benefit other
countries with education and
literacy issues.

8. ARE MOOC’S RIGHT FOR EVERY
COLLEGE RIGHT NOW? MAYBE NOT…
•
MOOC’s are like an exclusive club, and many colleges are joining
this club before weighing the pros and cons.
•
Colleges need to be asking themselves these questions…

9. SHOULD THE MOOC CURRICULUM
PARALLEL OUR EXISTING CURRICULUM?
•
Georgia Tech makes it clear that by joining Coursera, they are not
“abandoning our central mission of residential undergraduate instruction."
•
MOOC’s should be used as an experimentation to benefit the on-campus
community.
•
Colleges need to decide if MOOC's will attempt to replicate what they offer
on campus, supplement it, or do something else entirely.

10. DOES MOOC’S ENHANCE AN INSTITUTION'S
POSITION?
•
Colleges need to be clear about what their goal is in offering MOOC’s.
•
MIT paved the way for online courses, but they made sure they “closely aligned with the mission
of the institution”.
•
Coursera, a company that works with colleges to provide free online courses, states its goal is to
"give everyone access to the world-class education that has so far been available only to a select
few," and to "empower people with education that will improve their lives, the lives of their
families, and the communities they live in."

11. CAN MOOC'S FIT INTO YOUR
COLLEGE'S FINANCIAL MODEL?
•
Many colleges say they are not pursuing MOOC's to make money.
•
Institutions like MIT and Harvard have endowments so they do not need the
money.
•
Other institutions at least need to break even with MOOC’s in order to keep
afloat and defend their decision of offering them since people are receiving
free access to material that on campus students pay a lot of money for.
•
Colleges need to make it clear to the community how these MOOC’s will be
financed.

12. OER COMMONS (OPEN EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES)
Background
An online library that allows curriculum experts and educators to search for Open
Educational Resources (OER) and instructional materials. OER Commons was
created by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, to
allow for collaboration around the use, evaluation, and improvement of OER
materials. (Wikipedia, 2013)
OER Commons Offering (2007 - 2013, OER Commons)
•
Best in class learning materials from around the world since 2007
•
Training to broaden curriculum, strengthen collaboration, and enrich
teaching and learning
•
Design of custom tools and environments to support OER networks

13. USAGES OF OER COMMONS
Educators use Open Author within OER Commons to share a resource. Open
Author allows for the combining of text, pictures, sound, files and video. Materials
can be shared with friends, colleagues and educators who can print and
download the resource as a PDF, or download media.

14. TYPES OF SHARED CONTENT
Examples of shared content in OER Commons include:
•
Full courses
•
Course modules
•
Syllabi
•
Lectures
•
Homework assignments
•
Quizzes
•
Lab and classroom activities
•
Presentations

15. REFERENCES
Byerly, Alison. September 3, 2012. Before You Jump on the Bandwagon. The Chronicle of
Higher Education. Retrieved: http://chronicle.com/article/Before-You-Jump-onthe/134090/?cid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en
Clobridge, Abby. August 30, 2012MOOCs and the Changing Face of Higher Education.
Information Today, Inc. Retrieved:
http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/MOOCs-and-the-Changing-Face-ofHigher-Education-84681.asp
Martin, F. G. (2012, August). Will massive open online courses change how we teach?.
Communications of the ACM, 55(8), 26-28.
Teitelbaum, Jeremy. August 29, 2012. Massively Online Open Courseware – Massively Off
Course? Uconn Today. Retrieved: http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2012/08/massively-onlineopen-courseware-massively-off-course/
Open Educational Resources. 2007 - 2013, OER Commons, a project created by ISKME.
http://www.oercommons.org/
OER Commons. Wikipedia. October 23, 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OER_Commons