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How Blockbuster MOOCs Could Shape the Future of Teaching

Edsurge

There isn’t a New York Times bestseller list for online courses, but perhaps there should be. After all, so-called MOOCs, or massive open online courses, were meant to open education to as many learners as possible, and in many ways they are more like books (digital ones, packed with videos and interactive quizzes) than courses.

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Could Remixing Old MOOCs Give New Life to Free Online Education?

Edsurge

It’s common these days to hear that free online mega-courses, called MOOCs, failed to deliver on their promise of educating the masses. But one outcome of that push towards open online courses was plenty of high-quality teaching material. Lue will present the project next week at the OpenEdX conference in San Diego.

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Moving From 5% to 85% Completion Rates for Online Courses

Edsurge

MOOCs, shorthand for massive open online courses, have been widely critiqued for their miniscule completion rates. Industry reports and instructional designers alike typically report that only between 5 to 15 percent of students who start free open online courses end up earning a certificate.

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The Metamorphosis of MOOCs

Edsurge

At a recent meeting of educational technology policy advisors, a well-informed university CIO casually declared that MOOCs were history. Increasingly, MOOCs are being packaged into series of courses with a non-degree credential being offered to those who successfully complete the series.

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What If No One Seeks Credit for a Credit-Eligible MOOC?

Edsurge

News that Arizona State University and edX have archived 10 of their 14 Global Freshman Academy courses raises questions about the viability and purpose of credit-eligible MOOCs. She suggests that first-year students may need more academic and social supports and wraparound services than a la carte MOOCs provide.

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MOOCs Find Their Audience: Professional Learners and Universities

Edsurge

In Oct 2011, a few Stanford professors offered three online courses which were completely free. The strong public interest in these courses caught everyone by surprise. More than 100,000 people signed up—for each course. Within two years, more than a 1,000 instructors from more than 150 universities had launched online courses.

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A Proposal to Put the ‘M’ Back in MOOCs

Edsurge

MOOCs have evolved over the past five years from a virtual version of a classroom course to an experience that feels more like a Netflix library of teaching videos. The change has helped companies that provide these courses find a business model, but something crucial has been lost for students taking the courses.

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