Open Online Courseware & MOOC's

Open course or Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s) are a relatively new format of distant learning; online courses that allow anyone the opportunity to take for free.  This new phenomena is about educating the world, as Professor Agarwal states in the Colbert Report, “an educated world is a better world for everybody”.  Though there is often no degree or certificate for the free courses and limited instructor interaction, participants can choose what and where to learn; simply a way to acquire knowledge in the form of a unique learning experience. I chose to analyze and take the DemoX edX Demonstration Course (orientation course) through edX.org, a collaborative effort of dozens of higher education schools offering MOOC courses; free for informational audit or for a nominal fee for a certificate.

For an online course to be successful, I am looking for certain criteria; was it carefully planned for distance education, does it implement course activities that “provide ample opportunity for online learners to explore on their own” (Laureate Education, n.d.) and does it follow the recommendations and theories for online instruction.  My initial overview of the course leads me to believe it is centered on the Constructivism Theory, where “the individual gives meaning to the world through experience…through the process of personal and cooperative experimentation, questioning and problem-solving” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012, pg. 57).  By this, I mean the opportunities for peer-to-peer dialog in the form of discussion boards and wiki’s are abundant.

The course is clean and streamlined with extremely easy user-friendly navigations.  Because this is an orientation course, there are many opportunities to try the features used in other courses, without fear of making mistakes.  There are discussion boards, videos, interactive quizzes and readings available to familiarize yourself with the process.  The interactivity of assignments is amazing, connects to objectives and will definitely appeal to millennials. These activities fall in line with the Andragogy Theory by Malcom Knowles; “the development of a design for activities that clarifies resources and strategies to accomplish objectives” (Simonson, et.al. 2012, pg. 51).   If you have not had the opportunity to experience a MOOC, I highly suggest starting with edX.  The design of the course is superior to most CMS systems available, even the ones you pay to use.

 

 

  

 

Resources

'Colbert Report' Explains MOOCs . (2013, July 26). . Retrieved June 5, 2014, from

https://www.edx.org/

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.). Planning and designing online courses [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson