This document summarizes emerging technologies in libraries, focusing on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). It defines MOOCs and outlines their key characteristics of being massive, open, online courses. It describes the two main types of MOOCs - cMOOCs which emphasize social learning and xMOOCs which focus on knowledge duplication. Major MOOC platforms like edX, Coursera and Udacity are profiled. Reasons for low MOOC completion rates and the potential role of libraries in supporting MOOCs are discussed. Opportunities for librarians to take MOOCs to support continuing education are also presented.
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9. WHAT IS IT?
Massive
Can accommodate large numbers of students, sometimes tens of
thousands.
Open
Anyone can register, no institutional affiliation necessary, free.
Online
Delivery, feedback, and assessment (if any) are done virtually.
Sometimes supplemented with physical hang outs.
Courses
There is a curriculum although in some cases it is very flexible.
11. Types of MOOCs
cMOOCs
Focus on knowledge
creation
Emphasis on social
networked learning
Crowd sourced
learning and feedback
through peer
interaction
xMOOCs
Focus on knowledge
duplication
Emphasis on video
presentations &
quizzing
Objective feedback
from online quiz
results
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/4830488744/sizes/l/in/photostream/
34. MOOCs for Librarians
Hyperlinked Library
MOOC
School of Library and
Information Science at
San Jose State University.
More info:
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/programs/
moocs/hyperlinked-library-mooc
35. MOOCs for Librarians
New Librarianship
School of Information Studies,
Syracuse University
More info:
http://ischool.syr.edu/future/grad/newlibopencourse.aspx
Over 6.7 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2011 term, an increase of 570,000 students over the previous year. Thirty-two percent of higher education students now take at least one course online. Only 2.6 percent of higher education institutions currently have a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), another 9.4 percent report MOOCs are in the planning stages. Academic leaders remain unconvinced that MOOCs represent a sustainable method for offering online courses, but do believe they provide an important means for institutions to learn about online pedagogy. Seventy-seven percent of academic leaders rate the learning outcomes in online education as the same or superior to those in face-to-face classes. The proportion of chief academic officers who believe their faculty accept the value and legitimacy of online education has not increased it now stands at only 30.2 percent. The proportion of chief academic leaders who say online learning is critical to their long-term strategy is at a new high of 69.1 percent. The perception of a majority of chief academic officers at all types of institutions is lower retention rates for online courses remain a barrier to the growth of online instruction. http://sloanconsortium.org/news_press/january2013_new-study-over-67-million-students-learning-online
A nonprofit effort run jointly by MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley. Leaders of the group say they intend to slowly add other university partners over time. edX plans to freely give away the software platform it is building to offer the free courses, so that anyone can use it to run MOOCs.
The companys model is to sign contracts with colleges that agree to use the platform to offer free courses and to get a percentage of any revenue. More than a dozen high-profile institutions, including Princeton and the U. of Virginia, have joined.
The company, which works with individual professors rather than institutions, has attracted a range of well-known scholars. Unlike other providers of MOOCs, it has said it will focus all of its courses on computer science and related fields.
One major, and comparatively mature, role for libraries is in helping faculty ensure the materials they use to create their MOOC presentations and to assign as readings are not going to get them or their institutions into trouble. Faculty members are increasingly used to turning to the library for help with copyright, so in early discussions around making MOOCs work, the library should be front and center.
Working with professors to clear copyright content
Install the Google Xrays plug in and off you go. http://www.hackasaurus.org/en-US/educators/