Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Making the Massive Intimate: Building a Lasting Learning Community

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

I find it interesting how people tend to have the same sort of experiences with MOOCs over and over. This article reflects my own experience and I'm sure many people have learned the same lessons before and since. Molly Monet-Viera describes breaking out of the LMS-like limitations of the EdX platform and opening things up with live sessions, open-ended discussions, and similar community-based approaches to learning, as well what she calls "repositioning the role of the instructor" and "authentic education, which is not carried on by 'A' for 'B', but rather by 'A' with 'B'." The idea is (again, as she says) to let go of control, to view a course as an invitation, not a mandate, and to allow "the freedom to come and go as they pleased." All this, she suggests, points to the reasons why the MOOC still has potential - and I agree.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 23, 2024 6:10 p.m.

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