What are MOOCs?
Massive Open Online Course (MOOC ) is a term first coined by Cormier (Cormier 2008; Cormier and Siemens 2010) while he as conducting the "Connectivism and Connective Knowledge" course, which was 'the first to incorporate open learning with distributed content, making it the first true MOOC' (Downes n.d.). MOOCs are an evolution of OpenCourseWare (see my previous blog), of which first was arguably the one created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2001 one of the leaders in the development of MOOCs (e.g. edX).
Use of MOOCs in a Secondary / Pre-undergraduate Educational Context
Partly because of the need for quite a high level of learner independence and peer support in MOOCs it is very questionable whether they can work in their 'pure' form in secondary level education but there are quite a few other reasons why using them would be a challenge, not least because this phase of a young person's learning is dealt with on a compulsory face-to-face basis in most instances. There is room and incentive for a blended learning approach, therefore. Other issues are the use of smart devices and web technology inside or outside of the classroom, where the school or parents may have a policy against it. There are issues of safety, security, and privacy of minors. I have attempted it on a small scale and was met with mixed results for all of these reasons but every teacher in schools should attempt it for professional development reasons as well as for their students' development as learners.
Course content and Target Audience
The target audience of a MOOC in my learning context would be mainly (but not exclusively) STEM students who want to improve their research skills, their digital literacy, and their knowledge of mobile technologies as learning tools in English. They would be non-native speakers on EAP (English for academic purposes) foundation courses or students of Global Perspectives and Research (GPR), which is similar to an EAP foundation course. Both courses seek to prepare students for university studies in English. GPR is a social studies focus, with global issues and global citizenship at its core. Two key GPR topics are ‘Education for all’ and ‘The Digital World’. Because the students are mainly planning to study sub-disciplines of engineering, there would also be a strong multidisciplinary aspect to the course.
Cormier, D. and Siemens, G. (2010). Through the open door: Open courses as research, learning, and engagement. Educause, 45 (4), 30-39. [online]. Available at http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume45/ThroughtheOpenDoorOpenCoursesa/209320 (Accessed 28 March 2020)
Downes, S. (n.d.) 'The MOOC Guide: CCK08 - The Distributed Course' [online]. Available at https://sites.google.com/site/themoocguide/3-cck08---the-distributed-course (Accessed 28 March 2020)