MOOCs, high technology, and higher learning /

Professor Rhoads (UCLA) chronicles the rise of massive open online courses (MOOCs) from 2008 to 2014 and discusses how they are organized by clarifying the distinctions between cMOOCs, which emphasize connecting learners; xMOOCs, which emphasize an extension from face-to-face courses; and hybrid xsMOOCs, which include more educational strategies to support student learning. MOOCs developed from the Knowledge Commons and open courseware and educational resources shared freely by universities and governmental agencies. Their rapid growth was powered by for-profit businesses, foundations, government, and venture capitalists. Connectivist teaching and learning theory supported the development of cMOOCs, which are popular with self-directed, adults learners. A desire to expand college access for diverse communities and developing nations led to xMOOCs. Rhoads describes how in 2013-2014 the implementation of MOOCs resulted in resistance and focus on problems of epistemology, pedagogy, hegemony, diversity, and faculty labor. Practical considerations impacting faculty are copyright and intellectual property issues and instructional technology support and related faculty development. The author concludes that "the MOOC movement will be defined by its zealous high-tech experimentation in online education countenanced by a degree of skepticism about the role of technology in solving our most challenging educational problems." Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through graduates, faculty and professional readers. --David L. Stoloff, Eastern Connecticut State University