Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Bernard Nkuyubwatsi Institute of Learning Innovation University of Leicester

A brief history of MOOCs 2008: The concept of Massive Open Online Course and the acronym MOOC. 2011: CS221 Artificial Intelligence and two other MOOCs at Stanford University, → Bifurcation: Two types of MOOCs 2012: The wave of xMOOC and MOOC platforms

Two Types of MOOCs Connectivist (cMOOC) interaction between peers, Connectivist distance education pedagogy, Social approach of learning No quizzes and exams. Extension (xMOOC) More interaction with multimedia content and less with peers. cognitive-behaviourism (Rodriguez, 2012) or behaviourism (Daniel, 2012, Bates, 2012). Similar to university courses in many aspects (quizzes, exams, lectures, etc.)

The Launch of xMOOC platforms Udacity ( Jan, 2012https:// Coursera ( Apr, 2012https:// edX ( May 2012https:// FutureLearn ( Dec 2012http://futurelearn.com/about/ Open2Study ( March 2013https:// NovoEd ( April 2013http://novoed.com/ OpenUpEd ( Apr. 2013http://

xMOOC Providers in a Nutshell Platform/ Initiative Number of students Number of Partners Number of Courses Fields of study Languages Udacity+400,000 * (Oct. 2012) 1 University + GIoT 255English Coursera+ 3,700,000 (current) 81 ed institutions (E, Sp, Fr, Ch, Ge, It) edX+ 350,000 * (Oct. 2012) 8 ed institutions 5923English FutureLearnNA (at the moment) 21 His + GB Cl, Msm and Lry NA (at the moment) English Open2Study-10 Aust198English NovoEd-Stanford83 or 4English OpeUpEd-10 His + EADTU and Fr MHER 61Varied12 languages

Controversy in the MOOC dispute Protagonist Very high quality (Koller, 2012, Thrun, 2012, FutureLearn (2013) Opportunity to learners who have no access to HE (Ripley 2012) Antioch University buy them (Kolowich, 2012) ACE CREDIT recommended college credit for some Coursera MOOCs. ACE CREDIT Antagonist No constructive feedback ((Daniel 2012, Armstrong 2012) Not comprehensible (Mazoue, 2013, Edmundson 2012), No critical, creative and original thinking (Bates 2012) Low completion rates (Daniel 2012)

Two attitudes towards xMOOCs Lack of consensus before joining: →A rush for not staying behind → Fear among academics (Anderson, 2013) A counter-attack/Resistance attitude (some academics) e.g. 1. Resignation and reinstatement of the University of Virginia president, 2. A petition against edX essay grading software

The most recent breakthrough Online Master’s Degree in Computer Science Entirely MOOC-based Accredited Awarded by Georgia Institute of Technology Partners: at&t and Udacity Cost: Below USD 7,000 vs 13, 665 or more for its conventional offering, Individual courses: Available for free or certification More info:

My experience with MOOCs Free of Charge and no entry requirements Scalability Diversity: Culture, expertise, experience, assessment, activities Quality: Debated Empowerment: Recruitment, delivery and assessment Interaction with content: generally high in xMOOCs, social interaction: High in the cMOOC and some xMOOCs, especial graduate/Postgraduate level

Shortcomings Mechanistic feedback in some MOOCs Overwhelming posts in discussion forums The lack of responsive feedback from tutors

Closing Remark The uniqueness of learning experience MOOCs are transforming higher education MOOCs are providing opportunities to thousands of people to learn

Thank you

References Anderson, T. (2013) Promise and/or peril: MOOCs and open and distance learning, (accessed 01 May 2013). Armstrong, A. (2012) Coursera and MITx - sustaining or disruptive?, Changing Higher Education, (accessed 31 January 2013). Bates, T. (2012) What’s right and what’s wrong about Coursera-style MOOCs, whats-wrong-about-coursera-style-moocs/ (accessed 31January 2013). whats-wrong-about-coursera-style-moocs/ Daniel, J.S. (2012) “Making sense of MOOCs: Musing in a maze of myth, paradox and possibility”, Journal of Interactive Media in Education, available from (accessed 21 December 2012). Edmundson, M. (2012) The trouble with online education, The New York Times, July 19, (accessed 11 February 2012). FutureLearn (2013) Introduction from Simon Nelson, launch CEO Futurelearn, simon-nelson-launch-ceo-futurelearn/ (accessed 07 April 2013). simon-nelson-launch-ceo-futurelearn/ Koller, D. (2012) What we're learning from online education, TED, (accessed 10 February 2013). Kolowich, S. (2012) MOOCs for credit, Inside Higher Ed (accessed 10 February 2012). Mazoue, G.J. (2013) The MOOC model: Challenging traditional education, Education Review Online Jan/Feb 2013, (accessed 10 February 2013). Ripley, A. (2012) College is dead. Long live college!, Time Magazine college/print/ (accessed 10 February 2012). college/print/ Rodriguez, C. O. (2012) “MOOCs and the AI-Stanford like courses: Two successful and distinct course formats for Massive Open Online Courses”, European Journal of Open, Distance and eLearning, available from (accessed 20 February 2012). Thrun, S. (2012) Higher education 2.0, (accessed 15 February 2013).