What is a MOOC? Another word for
MOOC is a massive open online course. The benefit of MOOC's are they are
available in a variety of topics and capable of being research from virtually
anywhere! At your fingertips you can be connected with experts, peers, and
others with the goals as you. The article mentioned a couple different MOOC's
available to people such as Coursera, edX, FutureSense, or Udacity. I
unfortunately do not have a great deal of experience with any of these courses.
Once the MOOC is complete, the student
receives a certificate in the form most likely of badges. I like to call the
badges "medals of honor". They provide a way to showcase you and
build a digital portfolio. In some cases, badges can also be used for a
professional development credit. Thinking about that concept, would it be
beneficial for a teacher to be required to earn a certain number of badges
rather than attend a professional development day? Would it be worth it? Would
it be more beneficial or would more teachers take advantage of it?
The article discussed the
differences between cMOOCs and xMOOCs. The C” in front of the word MOOC refers
to a course based on connectivism where as the "X" is more directly
related to University and "often meant delivery of content in a traditional
academic manner". "Connectivism is related to how people use digital
tools and environments to form networks and connections."
The article discusses many
suggestions made by McAuley, Stewart, Siemens, & Cormier such as:
- The extent to which it can support deep enquiry and the
creation of sophisticated knowledge
- The breadth versus the depth of participation
- Whether and under what conditions successful
participation can extend beyond those with broadband access and
sophisticated social networking skills
- Identifying the processes and practices that might
encourage lurkers, or “legitimate peripheral participants”, to take on
more active and central roles
- The impact or value of even peripheral participation,
specifically the extent to which it might contribute to participation in
the digital economy in extra-MOOC practices
- Specific strategies to maximize the effective
contribution of facilitators in particular and more advanced participants
in general
- The role for accreditation, if any, and how it might be
implemented.
Above, I highlighted the phrase,
"breadth versus depth". This can be a very powerful statement. One I
believe the #itdml have proved this statement true. Although the content we
produce is not of "typical" 6th year length, the depth of the conversations
are far more meaningful and deeper than any program I have been a part of thus
far. The #itdml classes closely relate to the MOOC's discussed in the article.
During the 2014 summer courses we were a part of many different modules. For
each module we completed we received a badge. I really enjoyed the idea from +Stephanie Lavado. She did a great job
integrating technology into her physical education classroom. She discussed
using pedometers and tracking each student’s steps. As a whole their goal was
to "walk to Disney". This is just one example of many provided by the
students in the class demonstrating the positives stemming from MOOC's. The
Meriden Public School's are now trying implementing more MOOC's into our
district. In a matter of minutes, one can be connected to experts,
professionals and other peers with the same interests.
Resources:
- Ferdig, R. E. (2013). What massive open online courses
have to offer K–12 teachers and students. Michigan Virtual Learning
Research Institute. About Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute
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