MOOCs: An Opportunity for Innovation and Research

摘要

The acronym "M.O.O.C." could be a candidate for the most popular new word of 2012: massively open online courses, a large scale form of what we used to call online education. One can't scan a newsletter or conference program related to any aspect or constituency of higher education without seeing some reference to MOOCs, whether it's pro or con or just exploratory. Many universities are actively developing these courses with one of the for-profit or non-profit ventures that have emerged to promote this approach to education; any institution that isn't doing it yet is busy investigating and consulting and debating the costs, benefits, and relevance to its mission.