Grainne Conole proposes 12 dimesions for better classification of MOOCs. the degree of openness, the scale of participation (massification), the amount of use of multimedia, the amount of communication, the extent to which collaboration is included, the type of learner pathway (from learner centred to teacher-centred and highly structured), the level of quality assurance, the extent to which reflection is encouraged, the level of assessment, how informal or formal it is, autonomy, and diversity. She then evaluates five example MOOCs against these dimensions.
"While I am not a huge fan of MOOCs (See, "MOOCs - The Opium of the Masses," I think that there is one area in which they might actually be extremely useful - ongoing teacher professional development (PD). They are a good fit to help meet a very specific need, which they could do quite well given teachers' experience with education."
Analysis of MOOC pedagogy in relation to designing a MOOC for Cousera on el-learning and technology by the teachers and researchera associated with the MSc in elearning at the University of Edinburgh.
Different tracks online students take with MOOCs e.g. do the bits which clear up the muddy points in the topic, take the course because the professor is famous, want to find out what MOOCs are like etc. These are the students lumped together as 'drop-outs' and unpacking their experience shows useful learning takes place, but they don't complete the course.
Article refutes five commom myths about MOOCs
1. Fail to engage students in effective pedagogical practices
2. Deny students mentoring experiences with scholars passionate about their research
3. Lack the rigor of an on-campus curriculum
4.Provide, at best, superficial and narrowly defined training rather than deep understanding
5.Are an attempt to replace faculty"
The Chronicle with more surface stuff on MOOCs. There's very little to learn about Mooc design except don't make instructions ambiguous (with which I totally agree!)
"Daphne Koller, one of the two founders of Coursera, describes some of the key features of the Coursera MOOCs, and the lessons she has learned to date about teaching and learning from these courses. The video is well worth watching, just for this."