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Massive Open Online Course
DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)
n. — Education
an online course, often a distance course, aimed at large-scale interactive participation.
Type: 1. Origin — This term was apparently created by Canadian scholar Dave Cormier of the University of Prince Edward Island in reference to a free online course created by George Siemens and Stephen Downes at the University of Manitoba (see the 2008 quotation). There is some dispute over who coined the term or the acronym. Creed-Dikeogu & Clark (2013:10) write that "the MOOC can be traced back to a Proto-MOOC which was created at Utah State University in 2007 by David Wiley" but did not use the acronym. After the successful implementation of the first MOOC at the University of Manitoba (see the 2008 and 2012 quotations), both the concept and the term MOOC spread to Ivy League universities in the US. Notably, in 2011, two Stanford University professors "enrolled 90,000 and 160,000 students, respectively" (ibid.), and thereby popularized the idea, which gained considerable momentum from that point on. In the following year The New York Times dubbed 2012 "The Year of the MOOC" (see second New York Times reference).
The most popular five MOOC platforms are Coursera, which works with 15 top schools around the world, including Stanford and Yale; EdX, which is a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University; and Udacity, Erasmus and Academic Room.
In collaboration with universities, the platforms aim to extend their offerings beyond free courses for the general public by introducing degrees that could be completed through MOOCs. According to The New York Times, one of the first such degrees (master's degree in computer science) is offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology through Udacity "for a fraction of the on-campus cost" (see first New York Times reference).
In order to distinguish the original MOOC concept from newer concepts, the terms xMOOC and cMOOC are in use (see Image 1), where xMOOCs "focus on knowledge duplication" (Stevens 2013:5), such as in large first-year university courses. cMOOCs, on the other hand, focus on "knowledge creation and generation" (ibid.). Because of the MOOCs' success and popularity, the concept has spread to other countries (see the 2012 quotation). The term is now more frequent outside of Canada, particularly in the US (see Chart 1).
The most popular five MOOC platforms are Coursera, which works with 15 top schools around the world, including Stanford and Yale; EdX, which is a partnership between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University; and Udacity, Erasmus and Academic Room.
In collaboration with universities, the platforms aim to extend their offerings beyond free courses for the general public by introducing degrees that could be completed through MOOCs. According to The New York Times, one of the first such degrees (master's degree in computer science) is offered by the Georgia Institute of Technology through Udacity "for a fraction of the on-campus cost" (see first New York Times reference).
In order to distinguish the original MOOC concept from newer concepts, the terms xMOOC and cMOOC are in use (see Image 1), where xMOOCs "focus on knowledge duplication" (Stevens 2013:5), such as in large first-year university courses. cMOOCs, on the other hand, focus on "knowledge creation and generation" (ibid.). Because of the MOOCs' success and popularity, the concept has spread to other countries (see the 2012 quotation). The term is now more frequent outside of Canada, particularly in the US (see Chart 1).
See: MOOC
The term is almost exclusively used in its acronym form MOOC.
Quotations
2008
The Connectivism and Connective Knowledge course George Siemens and I are teaching at the University of Manitoba has attracted a fair bit of attention and a new title: the Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, with references in Beth Kanter, George Siemens, Bryan Alexander and Jennifer Maddrill. Also, responding to the course blog (link no longer functions, sorry) Norman Constantine suggested that we use BlogTalkRadio for the audio portions of the course.
2010
What is a MOOC?
So glad you asked.
I was asked a litte while back if I’d help a few Education researchers (Dave Cormier, Alexander McAuley, George Siemens, and Bonnie Stewart) answer that very question. They were doing research into Massive Open Online Courses, and wanted some videos to explain share some of what they were doing with the Education community. Dave wrote and recorded the script, I did the video.
2012
The UManitoba course, widely acknowledged as the first MOOC, took early inspiration from an idea that is only now gaining momentum in the U.K., Finland and Spain: that universities should be less protective of their newest ideas and brightest minds, allowing them to mingle more freely online.
2013
The MOOC (a term apparently coined by Canadian academics) started out as a free, not-for-credit course open to anyone. But now, dozens of U.S. schools are offering for-credit MOOCs with formal proctored exams. Thousands of American students entering college will no longer be forced to squeeze into overcrowded lecture halls for introductory courses. They'll log on to class from anywhere, and pay far less for the privilege.
2013
The University of Alberta is offering its first massive open online course, known as a MOOC, and it's called Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology.
Phil Currie, curator of dinosaurs at the U of A's Laboratory for Vertebrate Paleontology, will be teaching the online course starting Sept. 4. By 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the day registration opened, more than 900 people had signed up.
2014
Was the revolution over as soon as it had begun? To put the events of the past three years into perspective, University Affairs checked in with George Siemens, professor at the Centre for Distance Education and associate director of the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University, and an early MOOC innovator. Dr. Siemens, along with Stephen Downes, senior researcher at the National Research Council, years earlier had launched what is widely recognized as the first MOOC, in 2008. It was a course on learning theory offered through the University of Manitoba where Dr. Siemens then taught.
2016
Crammed with crags and canyons, screes and shelves, snow, ice, lakes, flora and fauna, Mountains 101 is a feast for the student senses. It's a massive open online course or MOOC, offered by the University of Alberta, likely starting in November, in a partnership with Parks Canada and the Alpine Club of Canada.
References
- Creed-Dikeogu & Clark (2013)
- Stevens (2013) • "What's with the MOOCs?"
- New York Times • "The Year of the MOOC"
- New York Times • "Master’s Degree Is New Frontier of Study Online"
Images
Image 1: MOOC poster. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Photo: M. Plourde
