Monday, July 28, 2014

MOOCs

I'll be addressing MOOCs so here we go:

A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC; /mk/) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive user forums that help build a community for students, professors, and teaching assistants (TAs). MOOCs are a recent development in distance education which began to emerge in 2012.[1][2]

Although early MOOCs often emphasized open access features, such as connectivism and open licensing of content, structure, and learning goals, to promote the reuse and remixing of resources, some notable newer MOOCs use closed licenses for their course materials, while maintaining free access for students.[3][4][5]

While MOOCs offer a way for Universities and individual professors to disseminate their brand internationally, K-12 teachers and schools do not generally have such a global focus. For teachers the most important thing is being able to tailor the best content available to their students' specific learning needs. For them, the ability to pick and choose the best content from around the internet represents a remarkable opportunity to bring the best teaching in the world into their classrooms.

MOOCs can also help schools lacking resources to cater to the full spectrum of student abilities by offering advanced courses for exceptional students, or extra teaching for students who are finding learning particularly difficult. MOOCs also offer access to the right support materials for students in remote parts of the globe with aspirations to attend universities in the U.S. or Europe. In a 'globalized world,' MOOCs offer a chance to create equality of opportunity when it comes to access to a quality education.

MOOCs also have the potential to open up new horizons for the growing number of students who are homeschooled. In the U.S. alone the figure is around two million, which is about the same number as attend charter schools. Some of the best teachers in the world can now be brought right into the living rooms of these children.

No comments:

Post a Comment