MOOCs and Liberal Education

The New Yorker!

Nice account of taking an edX class.

I don't see any harm in this approach. These lower level courses are often taught by adjuncts! I think, too, that the process outlined for determining which courses are chosen does add a level of protection for those concerned about quality MOOCs. But honestly, in my own field (political science), I don't know anyone who would take ownership of a 101 course and defend it against being a MOOCified.

Many would, especially if they're invested in the tenure system. How will this bill do in the legislature's other house?

I tend to fall into this camp...the best MOOCs will be focused on learning and using best practices for online learning. Obviously, the size of MOOCs make that challenging...

"I soon wasn't watching all the videos, and I certainly wasn't doing the practice homework that no one would ever grade. Honestly, I felt more like an audience member than a student." It seems that we have gotten too reliant on stimulation and feed back. Our entire school system and university system is built around mentoring and motivating, where the teacher has the role of an encouraging trainer more than anything else. Have we lost our ability of independent learning, not for a carrot that a teacher holds out in front of us, but for ourselves? I find myself in the same boat as the author of "Essays on disappointing experience". I am not disappointed with the MOOC experience, but am surprised that it takes such high levels of discipline to sit down and do the assignments asked for in the MOOC. Maybe this is a problem of the well to do, that have on some level lost the connection between the insemination of knowledge and the real possibility of upward mobility? NPR had a fascinating report: How Much Can Children Teach Themselves ( see the link below) and again, the children in question grew up in a poor area of Southern India. (http://www.npr.org/2013/06/21/179015266/how-much-can-children-teach-themselves?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=share&utm_campaign=)

Interesting to see them start on less commonly taught languages.

Google doc thrown together by some of the participants of this year's @MOOCMOOC

Thank you for adding this, Paul. And welcome to this Diigo group!

MOOC resource run by the cMOOC founders.

Karen Head is an assistant professor in the Georgia Institute of Technology's School of Literature, Media, and Communication, and director of the university's Communication Center. She reports periodically on her group's efforts to develop and offer a massive open online course in freshman composition.

<< NOTE: This is an ACTIVIST course, with MOOCs not just the platform but also the subject matter for our online conversations. For example, I am very excited about what we will all learn from a global forum directed at the question: "What is the history of defunding public education in YOUR country in YOUR lifetime?" >> The quote above struck me. Having read this course description makes me wonder, if MOOCs can not also be used a bit differently, to further open up the door to the international arena to our students on campus. I have recently been doing a lot of reading on transcultural literacy and competence, which focuses on being able to successfully navigate cultural differences between any culture and the own. Businesses today train their top executives to be transcultural, being able to work anywhere, and manage and lead in any country. I know foreign language curricula have not been very responsive in adjusting to this new need from firms. To full fill this demand, schools would have to push students to gain competence in multiple languages and cultures, on a more shallow level, instead of the mastery that is demanded in the current curricula in one language and culture. Since most institutions claim, that they promote global citizenship, maybe there is a way of assigning groups, and encouraging international and cross cultural communication between the students on campus, and those enrolled in the MOOC from where ever they might be located. I know that managing this, and keeping on top of the conversation partners could be a night mare, and that it doesn't entirely fit into the MOOC frame work, at least the way I understand it at the moment, but I'd love to hear what everyone else i thinking.

Josh Kim answers why he thinks AT&T got into the MOOC business.