Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Massive Open Online Course or MOOC is an educational platform that is open-access to anyone who desires to learn. MOOC’s are used to complete prerequisites for academic programs, for career advancement or for overall learning something new. They are also a valuable resource if you need assistance or clarification in a subject. MOOC's make a perfect complimentary resource to high school academics. Many courses are free or require a minimal subscription fee as well as offer certificates of completion. Many educational providers offer college credits.
"Georgia Tech announced a first-of-its-kind all-MOOC master’s program in computer science that, at $6,600, would cost just a fraction as much as its on-campus counterpart. About 1,400 students have enrolled." (Pope 2014)
"..more than one million people have completed a Coursera course since its inception in 2012, with over 2.1 million course completions as of April 2015” (Zhenghaol et all 2015)
Massive Open Online Course Information
- Entire MOOCs Course Listing
- edX.org Learning in conjunction 12 educational institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Berkley, Georgetown, and Boston University.
- Coursera Learning partners with Stanford, UC San Diego, Duke, and Johns Hopkins University
- Udemy Offers free and low cost courses, certifications, and study materials. Over 40,000 courses and 11 million students. Certificates of completion are available for most courses.
- iTunes U “Apple’s free app “gives students access to all the materials for courses in a single place. Right in the app, they can play video or audio lectures. Read books and view presentations.”
- Stanford Open edX Free courses available on various MOOC platforms.
- Harvard Free Courses Offers free or low-cost courses as well as tuition rates are based on the credit level. Courses run in the fall, spring, or intensive January session. No application is required.
- MIT Open Courseware ”MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a free and open web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content”. MITOC Offers 2,260 courses and 175 million visitors. Free lecture notes, exams, and videos. No registration required.
- UC Berkeley Free Courses from Biology to Computer Science. There are some courses at the link, however they are redirecting people to the edX.org website.
- UCLA Extension Over 220 writing courses and offers over 50 certificates that can be completed entirely online. Transfer credits available. Tuition costs.
- OpenYaleCourses ”Free and open access to a selection of introductory courses taught by distinguished teachers and scholars at Yale University.“
- Carnegie Mellon University “You can access course materials at no cost to you and work at your own pace. Our learning platform gives you targeted feedback as you go, which helps you know if you are mastering a topic or if you need more practice.”
References:
Newton, D. (2015). The (Accidental) Power of MOOCs. The Atlantic. Retrieve from http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/06/the-secret-power-of-moocs/396608/
Zhenghao, Chen, Brandon Alcorn, Gayle Christensen, Nicholas Eriksson, Daphne Koller, Ezekiel Emanuel, (2015) Who’s Benefiting from MOOCs, and Why. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why
Pope, J.(2014) What Are MOOCs Good For? MIT Technology Review. Retrieved from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/533406/what-are-moocs-good-for/
