I’m following a new MOOC now
in progress called Managing Change in Community Development. So far 158 members worldwide.
This is my third MOOC to
follow. What does “follow” mean? I check out how the MOOC is structured. I check out how participants engage with each
other. Mainly, my self-directed learning
revolves around how technology works or does not work to improve my learning.
The first MOOC I followed was
MobiMOOC12, and I did participate and complete the course. The first MOOC is considered a cMOOC since it
is constructivist in approach. Experts
present live and recorded webinars available on You Tube. Interaction is
encouraged through discussions around the expert webinars. Learners work on individual projects with
feedback from each other.
The second MOOC would be
considered an xMOOC. The course “How to
Build a Start Up” on Udacity is backed by higher education
experimentation. A high profile expert,
Steve Blank is the instructor. Really
great videos by Steve Blank are followed by quizzes to test knowledge of
skills. A discussion on site covers
topics of interest to the learners. So,
why do I not complete this course? I
could get a certificate and it is of interest to my non profit.
The third MOOC is delivered
on Google+. The expert webinars are
delivered live using Google Hangouts and recorded on You Tube. The discussions to date are not organized
around any topic. This MOOC would also
be considered a cMOOC. The MOOC fills the
need for a community of practice and a certificate is available. At this point, I’m participating since I’m
doing this blog, considered a weekly activity.
This MOOC is the least structured, but it is using simple tools that are
available for free and could be accessed on many devices.
To stay on top of all these
MOOC changes, I’m reading Inge
de Waard’s e-book, MOOC Yourself: Set up your own MOOC for business, non
profits & informal communities (2013).
Check out the book to see how fast this new MOOC disruption is changing
learning.
Then, view the video to see
where you fit into the MOOC revolution.
What kind of follower are you?
