What is a MOOC?

Select from one of the following options:

a) A kind of deer, related to a Moose, but found only in China.
b) A mobile book, alternate term for an eBook.
c) Massive Open Online Course

Correct, the answer is c) Massive Open Online Course – a tool for democratising higher education. In the past few months hundreds of thousands of motivated students around the world who lack access to elite universities have been embracing MOOCs as a path toward sophisticated skills and high-paying jobs, without paying tuition or collecting a college degree.

Have a look at Coursera, Udacity, and edX to see what’s on offer.

I have recently enrolled in a MOOC for Organisational Analysis presented by Stanford University delivered via Coursera. The prospect of having a closer look at eLearning content and the management of eLearning as delivered by top universities had my curiosity piqued.
Coursera offers 198 courses presented by 33 universities including Stanford University, the University of Michigan, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Firstly, I was impressed by the massive scale of the course, judged by the forum participation with posts attracting more than 4,000 views from all over the world in the first week. This can only be an enriching learning experience with so many interested participants sharing views and insights.

I have worked through the first online lecture and was once again pleasantly surprised. The first lecture comprises of a rich case study presented by Associate Professor Dan McFarland introducing analytical features of organisations. The forum is used effectively with Dan responding to forum items with highest vote via screen side chat and blog post. I’ll be applying the latest learning from Stanford to our stakeholder analysis templates.

The course content utilises engaging eLearning features including quiz questions, notes template, reading list, course meet up and summary tables.

I’m enjoying the learning experience, so please join me in January. I have signed up for:

1. Fundamentals of Online Education at coursera.org/course/foe – 5 weeks duration, requiring study commitment of 5 to 7 hours per week. Certificate of Completion will be provided by Georgia Tech C21U.
2. E-learning and Digital Cultures at coursera.org/course/edc – 5 weeks duration, requiring study commitment of 3 to 5 hours per week. Signed certificate of completion will be issued by University of Edinburgh instructors.

Share your view on MOOCs – what are the benefits, application, limitations and future in your view? How about an SAP MOOC or School Extension Topic MOOC?