Week #4 MOOC

DISCUSSION POINT: What is a "MOOC", and how does it intersect with the online, or hybrid learning environments that we've been studying? 

When people ask what is a “MOOC”, they are told it’s a massive open online course.  It’s a free way to share information about a specific topic.  Participates of MOOCs want to learn more about a specific topic or they have a lot of information to share about a topic. 

Dave Cormier says a MOOC is a response to information overload.  Instead of asking someone for information, buying a book, figuring it out on your own, or taking a course on what you specifically want to learn you can instead participate in MOOC where information is everywhere.  Because of the internet a MOOC can give a participant overwhelming amount of information and the best part it’s free!  It’s a way to engage in the learning process.  You the learner decide if you have been successful.

Last semester I participated in a MOOC along with IT&DML classmates in Central Issues and Research in New Literacies.  Over the semester we participated in five different modules and at the completion of the modules we earned badges.  Ian worked with Mozilla and had us participate in an Open Badge Project that allowed him to create a badge to recognize anyone else for knowledge or skills we had obtained (Ferdig, 14).  Getting that badge was important to all of us, it was more than a badge it showed that we successfully completed the task and that we EARNED a way to be part of the MOOC.

The article by Ferdig shows how MOOCs can be beneficial for both K-12 teachers and students.  What makes it the most beneficial for me is there is no right way to do the course which is networked with other learners instead it has the ability to sprout off into various directions.  It allows the participants to be in charge of their learning.  It has the ability to use the internet as an endless information source.