1. THAPELO EDOM 201131099 THE MOOC EXPLAINED

2. WHAT IS THE MOOC? THE MOOC IS AN ACRONYM FOR MASSIVE OPEN ON LINE COURSE. ITS A COURSE THAT IS DELIVERED ONLINE THE COURSE IS ALSO OPEN TO ANYONE IN THE WORLD THIS MEANS THERE IS MASSIVE ENROLLMENT AND SO FAR ALMOST ALL MOOCS ARE FREE 3. HOW ARE MOOCS DELIVERED? MOOCS CAN BE DELIVERED ON ANY OPEN PLATFORM OR A SPECIFICALLY BUILT PLATFORM THE REQUIREMENT OF THE PLATFORM IS THAT IT MUST BE ACCESSIBLE ON THE COMPUTER OR ANY BROWSER MOOCS CAN PRESENTED IN FORMS OF MIXTURE OF VIDEO, SLIDES, INTERNET LINKS AND HANDOUTS MOOCS ALSO HAVE RECOMMENDED TEXTS 4. WHO IS THE TARGET MARKET OF MOOCS THE TYPICAL TARGET MARKET FOR MOOCS IS LITERALLY EVERYONE ANYONE WHO HAS ACCESS TO A COMPUTER CAN ENROLL IN A COURSE PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD ARE TAKING PART IT IS A WAY OF FREE QUALITY EDUCATION TO LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES THE TALENT AND COMMITMENT OF THE LECTURER IS KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL MOOC 5. WHAT IS THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE MOOC THIS DEPENDS ON HOW GOOD THE COURSE IS AND HOW WELL IT IS DELIVERED IT ALSO DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH EFFORT THE STUDENT PUTS INTO LEARNING ITS RELATIVELY EASY TO CONDUCT ASSESSMENTS FOR SCIENCE-BASED COURSES THAT HAVE OBJECTIVELY CORRECT ANSWERS ASSESSMENT OF MORE SUBJECTIVE MATERIAL (SUCH AS THAT COMMONLY FOUND IN THE HUMANITIES) IS MORE DIFFICULT TO CONDUCT. 6. DO MOOCS OFFER ANY QUALIFICATIONS? MOOCS DO NOT OFFER RECOGNIZED QUALIFICATIONS THEY ARE NOT SUBSTITUTES FOR OTHER KINDS OF COURSES THEY ARE USEFUL IN HELPING YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SUBJECT AREA YOU WANT TO STUDY THEY BUILD SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE THAT WILL BE USEFUL FOR YOUR CAREER 7. WHAT CAN I STUDY? FROM PUBLIC SPEAKING TO MEDICAL NEUROSCIENCE IS OFFERED BY MOOCS NATIONWIDE MANY ARE INTRODUCTORY COURSES AND DON'T REQUIRE ANY EXISTING KNOWLEDGE, BUT OTHERS WILL REQUIRE BACKGROUND SKILLS - ESPECIALLY MATHS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSES KEEP IN MIND THAT COURSES RUN AT A SPECIFIC TIME, SO YOU MIGHT HAVE TO WAIT A WHILE FOR THE COURSE YOU WANT TO COME UP. 8. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO STUDY IN A MOOC? MOOC FORMATS MAY DIFFER FROM ONE PLATFORM TO ANOTHER THEY USUALLY OFFER DISCUSSION FORUMS, QUIZZES, PEER GRADING EXERCISES, EXAMS AND READINGS TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE CONTENT. ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS ARE INSPIRED TO CREATE STUDY GROUPS AND NETWORKS ONLINE 9. HOW DO I TAKE PART IN A MOOC? SIGNING UP IS SIMPLE - YOU JUST NEED TO REGISTER ON THE PROVIDER'S WEBSITE WHEN YOU ENROLL IN A MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSE AND CHECK THE FORUM, YOULL SEE THAT THE FLEXIBILITY OF MOOCS ATTRACTS A HUGE VARIETY OF STUDENTS OF DIFFERENT AGES, NATIONALITIES, BACKGROUNDS, ABILITIES, INTERESTS AND ENGLISH- LANGUAGE LITERACY 10. ANY QUESTIONS E-MAIL TEEDOM941@GMAIL.COM 11. REFERENCES BATES, T. (2013) HARVARDS CURRENT THINKING ON MOOCS, HTTP://TINYURL.COM/A2UH86Z EDUCAUSE, (2012), WHAT CAMPUS LEADERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MOOCS, HTTP://TINYURL.COM/C7GQJ65 MEYER, R. (2012). WHAT ITS LIKE TO TEACH A MOOC (AND WHAT THE HECKS A MOOC?), HTTP://TINYURL.COM/CDFVVQY WIKIPEDIA, (2012), MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSE, HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MASSIVE_OPEN_ONLINE_COURSE WILEY, D. (2012), THE MOOC MISNOMER, HTTP://OPENCONTENT.ORG/BLOG/ARCHIVES/2436