etMOOC
Various Authors, MOOC, January 4, 2013.

The latest MOOC: "#etmooc is a ‘Connectivist’ MOOC (‘cMOOC) that is designed around a few key principles:

• The course is developed with a weak ‘centre’. While etmooc.org will provide a level of aggregation, detail, and direction, the majority of interactions are likely to occur within groups & networks, facilitated through various online spaces & services.
• Participants are strongly encouraged to develop their own reflective, learning spaces. We’re hoping that every learner in #etmooc creates and maintains their own blog for continuous reflection, creativity, and resource sharing.
• Sharing and network participation are essential for the success of all learners in #etmooc. Thus, we’ll be needing you to share your knowledge, to support and encourage others, and to participate in meaningful conversations."

There is a long long ls of 'conspirators' headed by Alwec Couros.

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Interaction, Web Logs, Networks]

The mixably Open Online Course (mOOC)
Mike Caulfield, Weblog, January 4, 2013.

Two part presentation (Part One, Part Two) on the structure of open online courses. "This is an off the cuff presentation of the module structure in the Psych course we are developing, which shows some of the possibilities of combining multiple OER into a course designed for institutional reuse." This model reminds me of the Assiniboine Model, which I developed (and built software supporting) in 1997. That's the thing with the new xMOOCs, too. Technologically, they aren't really an advance over this basic concept (with the exception of automatically graded assignments, a field I left to people like Martin Holmes). See my original model below:

[Link] [Comment][Tags: Open Educational Resources, Traditional and Online Courses]

MOOCs are a fundamental misperception of how teaching works
Mark Guzdial, Computing Education Blog, January 4, 2013.

Mark Guzdial focuses on xMOOCs like Coursera and Udacity, basically ignoring cMOOCs. He argues MOOCs misrepresent how teaching works because:

• The main activity of a higher-education teacher is not to lecture
• A teacher is an expert at teaching the topic, and the teaching is dependent on the domain
• The job of the teacher is to educate, not filter, and that includes motivating students

He writes, "There is evidence that MOOCs do not teach. We knowthat MOOCs have a low completion rate. What most people don’t realize is that the majority of those who complete already knew the content. MOOCs offer a one-size-fits-few model, unchanging between content domains, that does not change for individual students (I know that they hope that it will opne day, but it doesn’t now)."

[Link] [Comment][Tags: none]