Delicious Tidbits: MOOCs

Among the threads of learning I am weaving into my understanding of instructional design and adult learning is the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course).  Here are some finds I've stored away in my Delicious Library:

Per Wikipedia:

"A MOOC is a course where the participants are distributed and course materials also are dispersed across the web. This is possible only if the course is open, and works significantly better if the course is large. The course is not a gathering, but rather a way of connecting distributed instructors and learners across a common topic or field of discourse. MOOCs are a more recent form of online course development, departing from formats that rely on posted resources, Learning Management Systems, and structures that mix the LMS with more open web resources."

To me, one of the most exciting qualities of MOOCs is their empowering nature  MOOCs empower learners to self-define the goal and metrics of success of the learning. Additionally, learners are co-creators of knowledge along with their facilitators and colleagues. 

Here are some useful and fun resources, plucked from my delicious library, for learning how to participate in and build/deliver a MOOC:

MOOC benefits for international learners - an overview

View more PowerPoint from Inge Ignatia de Waard

The MOOC Guide: 


The purpose of this eBook, hosted by Google, is two-fold:

• To offer an online history of the development of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

• To use that history to describe major elements of a MOOC

Each chapter of this guide looks at one of the first MOOCs and some early influences. It contains these parts:

• A description of the MOOC, what it did, and what was learned

• A description of the element of MOOC theory learned in the offering of the course

• Practical tools that can be used to develop that aspect of a MOOC

• Practical tips on how to be successful

A Brief Guide To Understanding MOOCs

In this article, written by Ken Masters for the Internet Journal of Medial Education, and published by Internet Scientific Publlications, the author presents a brief guide to assist teaching staff in understanding the conceptual changes required by instructors to implement a MOOC successfully.