A quick note: 100 MOOCS are getting underway this November, and you can peruse the many different free educational opportunities by visiting our comprehensive list of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which we curated this month with the generous help of ClassCentral.com. Here’s a quick sample of what’s on tap:
- How to Change the World – Wesleyan on Coursera – November 11 (6 weeks)
- Our Changing Climate: Past, Present and Future – University of Reading on FutureLearn – November 10 (5 weeks)
- Origins – Formation of the Universe, Solar System, Earth and Life – University of Copenhagen on Coursera – November 10 (7 weeks)
- The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours (Hours 22-24): Plato and Beyond – Harvard University on edX – November 12 (4 weeks)
- Introduction to Public Speaking: Impromptu Speaking – University of Washington on Canvas.net – November 17
- China (Part 9): Communist Liberations – Harvard on edX – November 20 (5 weeks)
- Ageing Well: Falls – Newcastle University on FutureLearn – November 24 (4 weeks)
If you’re watching how MOOCs are playing out, you might want to read the New Yorker’s recent article, Will MOOCs Be Flukes?. It documents how “enthusiasm for MOOCs has waned in the past year.” The problem lies in MOOCs very design. By their very nature, MOOCs are “massive and open, which means that it can be easy to get lost in them.” As a result, MOOC “completion rates are abysmal.” Although some well-educated, self-motivated students have succeeded in completing these courses, MOOCs have not been “effective at serving the students who needed educational resources the most.” The financially and geographically disadvantaged. In other words, the very people MOOCs were supposed to help. Click here to read the New Yorker piece and its suggestion for getting the MOOC project back on track.
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