1. A Primer on MOOCs:
Massive Open Online Courses
Joe Cullen
December 2013
2. Some general questions about MOOCs
• What is a MOOC?
• Why you should enroll in a MOOC?
• Who are the major MOOC platforms?
• What are some great MOOCs you can
take?
• What are some hot discussions about MOOCs?
COPYRIGHT 2013 CATALYST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JULY 15, 2014 | PAGE 2
Image Source: Scoop.it
MOOC Wikipedia Article
A complete history of the evolution of MOOCs.
3. What is a MOOC?
• It’s massive—10s of thousands can
enroll
• It’s open—it’s free, anyone can enroll
• It’s online—lectures are prerecorded,
forums are moderated, cool technology
is utilized
• It’s a course—you sign up to learn something, you
have assignments, you work with cohorts, and you
network
COPYRIGHT 2013 CATALYST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JULY 15, 2014 | PAGE 3
What in the World Is a MOOC?
Washington Post, September 24, 2012
Image Source: ETC Journal
5. COPYRIGHT 2013 CATALYST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JULY 15, 2014 | PAGE 5
What is a MOOC? (The Infographic)
Image Source: Wikipedia
6. Why you should enroll in a MOOC?
• You’re a continuous learner.
• You enjoy the structure of a higher ed course.
• MOOCs are usually free.
• MOOCs often have no limit to the number of seats.
• MOOCs are often associated with major universities.
• MOOCs are often identical to their for-credit, degree
pursuant counterparts.
• Tuition reimbursement programs have restrictions.
• MOOCs allow you to try out a new field of interest.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CATALYST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JULY 15, 2014 | PAGE 6
9 Types of Lifelong Learners Who Can Benefit
MOOC News and Reviews, July 4, 2013
Image Source: Zazzle
7. What are the major MOOC platforms?
• Leading the pack
– Coursera
– Khan Academy
– Udacity
– edX
• Companies to watch
– MOOC2Degree
– Canvas Network
– CourseSites
– Udemy
COPYRIGHT 2013 CATALYST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JULY 15, 2014 | PAGE 7
Image and Data Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education
8 MOOCs Transforming Education
InformationWeek, April 10, 2013
8. What are some great MOOCs you can
take?
• Content Strategy for Professionals: Engaging
Audiences for Your Organization
(Coursera > Northwestern University)
• Project Management for Business
Professionals (Canvas)
• Metadata: Organizing and Discovering Information (Coursera >
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
• Introduction to Business Communication
(Canvas)
• Introduction to Computer Science (Udacity > University of Virginia)
• Professional Writing (Saylor.org)
COPYRIGHT 2013 CATALYST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JULY 15, 2014 | PAGE 8
MOOC List
A search engine that aggregates MOOC listings across platforms.
9. What are some hot discussions about
MOOCs?
• How Will the MOOCs Make Money?
PandoDaily, 8/22/13
• Will MOOCs Disrupt Higher Ed?
InformationWeek, 9/3/13
• Do MOOCs Work?
The Hechinger Report, 9/12/13
• MOOCs for Professional Development
The EvoLLLution, 10/9/13
• Listing MOOCs on LinkedIn
Quora, 8/17/13
COPYRIGHT 2013 CATALYST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. JULY 15, 2014 | PAGE 9
Image Source: Accredible
Lifting All Boats: How MOOCs Can Bring Higher Ed Together
Campus Learning, July 24, 2013
Don’t answer these questions, that comes later.
Ask for show of hands for those who know what a MOOC is
It’s massive: In 2011, Stanford did 3 MOOCs on artificial intelligence. 100k enrolled.
NYT dubbed 2012 “The Year of the MOOC”
The term MOOC was coined in 2008 by Dave Cormier of the University of Prince Edward Island.
He’s sort of a star in MOOCs.
Like the Raytheon guy, Ray Tomlinson, who put the @ in email?
Just glance over this.
Sorf of an infographic meets a word cloud.
When you get to the free part, say “as Kanye West would say: free.99.”
Tuition reimbursement
Some companies require a specific grade for reimbursement
Some approve based on how much it relates to your job
Some don’t offer it at all.
MOOCs give you a chance to forgo all of those complications and test your medal in new areas.
That relates to P&D. We’re at an impasse with that now. But they look great on your P&D.
Leading the pack—as far as capital and number of courses are concerned
CourseSites—this is by Blackboard, an early playing in enterprise education software. I used to build blackboard courses in a previous job.
Coursera—founded by a Stanford professor.
edX—partnership between MIT and Harvard as a means of education outreach.
MIT has OpenCourseWare, an open library of course materials—not the same as a MOOC platform.
I just finished that second course.
Heavily focused on traditional project management practices usually associated with the Project Management Institute (PMI), a not-for-profit professional organization for the project management profession. You’ve heard of PMP certification. This offers you PDUs.
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of business has a few MBA courses on Coursera. Talk about testing waters on those versus a real MBA. You may found out you’re not a good fit.
My favorite debate is whether or how this will disrupt higher ed. That’s like asking if mp3 downloads would disrupt the music business. Starts with distribution changes, then changes the product.
Leads into…
Time Magazine referred to MOOCs as “Ivy League for the Masses” by “replacing the distribution method but by reinventing the actual product.”
Touch on taking credit for a MOOC on LinkedIn.
