What’s A MOOC?

What is a MOOC? What it is not =

Many of my educational technology peers might have heard the term MOOC tossed around before. For those of you who are just hearing this acronym, let me further explain. MOOC = Massive Open Online Course. It is exactly as the title describes. Here is a further description from Jan Schwartz‘s article – Learnings from a MOOC:

In the MOOC, the facilitators aggregated the conversations on a daily basis via a mass email, took a few really good posts (in their opinion), and advanced the conversation by asking more questions and pointing the discussions in relevant directions. Their choice of good posts included both the pro and the con of topics of connectivism and connected learning.

The term MOOC was recently shared in yesterday’s Wired Chronicle article . When I heard about this upcoming MOOC last week I was looking forward to this course. My past experiences in other MOOCs – EC&I 831 & CCK09 – have contributed to my professional development, academic research and personal learning networks. As an on-going learner, MOOCs often cultivate my learning interests and challenge me to go beyond what I learning realms.

The Center for Online Learning, Research and Service at the University of Illinois Springfield is currently welcoming participants to their upcoming eight-week MOOC starting on June 27, 2011. [You can follow @edumooc or the hashtag #edumooc on Twitter and check out the eduMOOC wiki if you just care to “lurk & learn”]:

Online Learning Today…and Tomorrow

This collaborative course is completely open and free. Check out the great schedule for weekly panel discussions with experts in field. This will be a fun learning opportunity for some and perhaps great professional development for others. I also encourage you to check out Dave Cormier‘s videos that shares “What is a MOOC?” and how to be successful in a MOOC: