Contemporary Talk

ALYSSA ANDREWS, GREGORY ACEDO, XAVIER ACOSTA

MOOCs
1
Outline
1. Title Page: MOOCs Contemporary Talk
2. Outline
3. What is a MOOC?
4. Video: New York Times
5. Who Offers MOOCs?
6. MOOC Provider Information
7. Chart: US University Participants
8. MOOCs: What They Offer
9. Chart: Structure of MOOCs
10. Pros and Cons of MOOCs
11. Questions
12. References





2
What is a MOOC?
Stands for: Massive Open
Online Course
-aimed at unlimited
participation and open
access via the web.
Depending on the course, they
may or may not earn a student
college credit, but they do
offer useful education that
could enable certification,
employment or further studies.


3
Video
http://youtu.be/KqQNvmQH_YM

4
MOOCs: what they offer
5
Ideal for
independent study 1.
Video-based
learning
environment
2.
group interaction
through peer review
and collaboration
3.
Automated
feedback 4.
Group forums
5.
Usually free
accessibility to
the public
6.
6
Who Provides MOOCs?
*Universities and other institutions worldwide partner with external providers, the largest including
US-based Coursera, Udemy, Udacity, EdX, and Australian MOOEC. Some providers specialize in
particular areas of study.
Universities Participating in MOOC Programs
Map shows
most
prestigious
schools
offering
MOOC
programs


MOOCs
are offered
world-wide



7

Coursera: 500+ courses, 100 partners worldwide.
Including Duke University, Peking University (China)
and the University of Amsterdam .
Udemy: free and paid courses, many from non-
academic instructors.
Udacity: free courses. Recently announced
partnership with Georgia Institute of
Technology and AT&T to provide a Master of
Science in Computer Science MOOC course at a
cost of $6,600.
EdX: non-for-profit provider, created
by Harvard and MIT. Partners include the Australian
National University, TU Delft (the Netherlands), Rice,
Berkeley and Georgetown.
8
MOOC Provider Info
9
*Chart shows
which
investors/alumni,
universities,
professors, and
donors are
working
together to
create and fund
which MOOCs.
10
Pros
Low cost
Quality courses
Can be combined with
other study/work
Accessible from any
computer
No commuting necessary
Usually self-paced
Cons
90% drop-out rate
Computer literacy
necessary
Do not feed into a degree
program (self-contained)
Content from a MOOC
outside of your country
may be unfamiliar

Questions
1. Which types of courses do you think should be offered as MOOCs
and why?


2. Why do you think there is such a high drop-out rate (or incompletion)
in MOOC courses?

3. Go to https://www.class-central.com/ and list three MOOC courses
that interest you. Why do they interest you?
11
References
12
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/massively-open-online-
course-MOOC
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/distance-
learning/moocs-(massive-open-online-courses)/
http://www.mooc-list.com/
http://www.educause.edu/library/massive-open-online-course-
mooc
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/education/moocs-large-
courses-open-to-all-topple-campus-
walls.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/massive-open-online-
courses-transform-higher-education-and-science/