MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)
Francesco Agrusti
Roma Tre University

Dave Cormier first used the term MOOC to describe the “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge” course George Siemens and Stephen Downes held online in 2008, free of charge and involving over 2000 people worldwide (Yousef et al., 2015).
A MOOC is an online course with free, open enrolment, a publicly shared curriculum designed for a large number of participants that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, as long as they have an internet connection, and open to those without specific entrance qualifications that offers a complete and free online course experience. MOOCs are based on involving students who independently organize their own participation in keeping with their learning objectives, previous knowledge and skills and common interests (McAuley et al, 2010; Jansen & Schuwer, 2015).

This definition encompasses the four facets of the acronym, each represented by a letter (Liyanagunawardena et al., 2013; Kaplan & Haenlein, 2016):

• Massive. The current literature agrees on a dual interpretation of the first element, ‘massive’, indicating on one hand the scalability of this educational format and, on the other hand, the number of participants exceeding what a ‘normal’ classroom might host. Scalability is reflected in both technology and pedagogy. The former refers to the platform’s ability to accommodate an indefinite number of participants, while the latter represents the scope of the course activities and specifically the fact that they can be scaled up without significant inconvenience and at a negligible, marginal cost.
• Open. This element comprises three different meanings. The first concerns the fact that access to the course is costless, involving free enrollment (without admission prerequisites), and that it may be accessed without time or space constraints. The second relates to the open nature of MOOC content, which allows students at different levels to selectively engage course content at their own pace. Third, the software and platforms are open-source, i.e. anyone is allowed to acquire the source code without prohibitions on the use, adaptation or development of the code.
• Online. Most definitions of the term MOOC agree that the course is held over the internet (or the web, or remotely), although some researchers argue that MOOCs do not necessarily have to be wholly online because students in the same area can actually meet up in person; this may lead to a blended learning format.
• Courses. In a MOOC, the course is defined through: independent learning, networked learning, facilitation, and learning outcomes. Independent learning is the self-directed educational process an individual student undertakes with little or no supervision. Networked learning has three aspects: peer/collaborative learning networks, social networking and peer/collaborative support, i.e. the support that a student receives from other participants in relation to the problems they encounter or shared while taking the MOOC. The third concept is facilitation: the most frequently reported problems include a lack of contact with or limited support from the instructor during the course. The huge amount of data and the analysis of learning outcomes allow teachers to monitor the overall progress of participants and provide adequate feedback when possible.

Seeing as MOOCs are a distance educational tool that is open and attentive to allowing students to follow their own learning rhythms, they have been identified as a RE-SERVES project educational practice useful for helping NEETs to acquire specific skills and knowledge, thereby enabling them to improve their employability and social inclusion.

Selected references

Jansen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in Europe status report based on a mapping survey conducted in October-December 2014. EADTU.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2016). Higher education and the digital revolution: About MOOCs, SPOCs, social media, and the Cookie Monster. Business Horizons, 59(4), 441–450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.03.008

Liyanagunawardena, T. R., Adams, A. A., & Williams, S. A. (2013). MOOCs: A systematic study of the published literature 2008-2012. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 14(3), 202–227.

McAuley, A., Stewart, B., Siemens, G., & Cormier, D. (2010). The MOOC model for digital practice.

Yousef, A. M. F., Chatti, M. A., Schroeder, U., Wosnitza, M., & Jakobs, H. (2015). The State of MOOCs from 2008 to 2014: A Critical Analysis and Future Visions. In S. Zvacek, M. T. Restivo, J. Uhomoibhi, & M. Helfert (Cur.), Computer Supported Education (pp. 305-327). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25768-6_20