Massive open online course

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Revision as of 14:17, 14 October 2014 by imported>Christine Bush (Added reference attributing Dave Cormier as having devised the acronym MOOC; added first new sub-section, "History.")
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Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are an emergent educational platform which deliver content online and are made freely available to anyone wishing to take them. Dave Cormier is widely credited with having devised the acronym, MOOC, to describe "a free course, that has a beginning and end date, which is open to everyone — irrespective of their level of education."[1] In order to receive accreditation for taking a MOOC, however, a student may need to pay a fee or be registered with a traditional educational institution such as a college. Well known MOOC platforms are edX[2] from MIT, Coursera,[3] and uDacity.[4] There are also MOOC platforms not sponsored by traditional educational institutions or commercial interests such as P2PU[5] or School of Data.[6]

History

Candadian scholars George Siemens and Stephen Downes, proponents of the educational learning theory Connectivism, made key contributions and facilitated some of the first MOOCs.[1]