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The big idea is that learning and knowledge are networked, not sequential and hierarchical. Systems that foster learning, especially in periods of complexity and continual changes to the human knowledge base, must be aligned with this networked model. In the short term, hierarchical and structured models may still succeed. In the long term, and I’m thinking in terms of a decade or so, learning systems must be modelled on the attributes of networked information, reflect end user control, take advantage of connective/collective social activity, treat technical systems as co-sensemaking agents to human cognition, make use of data in automated and guided decision making, and serve the creative and innovation needs of a society (actually, human race) facing big problems.

MOOCs started getting a lot more attention when Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig from Stanford University opened up enrollment to their Artificial Intelligence course in 2011. They expected a few thousand students at the most to enroll, but within the first few days enrollment hit 10,000, then 100,000 and the final number of registered students was 160,000,

Shortly after Artificial Intelligence finished, Thrun started Udacity, a platform offering MOOCs that mostly focus on science and technology. Coursera opened soon after, followed by edX which is a joint effort between Harvard and MIT. And new platforms are still being launched, including Open2Study from Australia’s Open Universities and NovoEd from Stanford. These MOOCs offered on university-based platforms are modeled on traditional course materials, learning theories and higher education teaching methods. For example, they usually are organized around lectures and quiz-type assessment methods. Also these courses typically use little distributed content that’s available on the Web outside the platform. Most course content is prerecorded video lectures which are posted on the courses’ home page.

xMOOCs are not better or worse than a cMOOC, just different. xMOOCs fit the needs of many (though not all) learners looking for academic courses that meet a specific interest and need. Who and what are behind the xMOOC platforms? Another significant factor that differentiates an xMOOC from a cMOOC is who are behind them. Rather than a group of individuals building the course as in a cMOOC, an xMOOC usually has one or more higher education colleges or schools behind it, and, in some cases, a for-profit company.

MOOCs featured in the media are quite different from the original concept. One co-founder of the first MOOC, Stephen Downes, came up with the terms ‘xMOOC’ and ‘cMOOC’ to distinguish between classes modeled on his and the form that has become better known since then. The Coursera and edX platforms that have grabbed the spotlight recently are examples of xMOOCs.