part of a seismic shift in online learning that is reshaping higher education

What is generating the seismic waves? Perhaps it is the thundering of hooves.

@cogdog – you up for forswearing #mooc blogging for the whole month? #mooctober

— David Kernohan (@dkernohan) October 8, 2012

The month has ended…plus c’est la mÃªme chose

It’s too easy to make fun of, way easy.

I am looking for a different tack, as much fun as the snark is, it really does not contribute much.

Well, it is so damn fun.

The new Canvas Network looks fresh. Heck, my friends are teaching there. The Gender in Comics course has one of the best trailers ever.

So among my other wonderings

Curious what happens when we have massive number of moocs.

— Alan Levine (@cogdog) November 1, 2012

is again what we mean by open? Yes, the welcome mat is out, the entry way is inviting…

cc licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo shared by SeeMidTN.com (aka Brent)

But what is inside the door does not flow out the same door. In Coursera, the honor code means not blogging about your work, somewhat of a seen necessity when you start grading work. Or is it?

On a more general front, the MOOC is Vegas, what happens in the MOOC stays in the MOOC. There are no RSS feeds for the class. You cannot lurk without going through the door. When the MOOC ends so does the stuff. You cannot wander in later and marvel at the stuff on the walls. You are tacked to its drum like schedule. And if you step inside the door and go “woah, this place is not for me”- well then you are labeled a “dropout” (a term I continue to assert is meaningless and inappropriate in this space).

But maybe these are not really all that bad. The opportunity being given. I must admit in my most recent MISBLAOW (MOOC I Started But Left After One Week), it was impressive at the number and locations around the world where people were tapping into the course. This is a true service and benefit, though I have the question of how video lectures of people reading content is really going to play in parts of the the world where connectivity is not what it is in Palo Alto.

And is this really the best learning we can give the world? Lectures, machine grading, and multiple guess? Really? Check the century on your digital watch, Socrates.

It more than nothing, yet far short of what is possible.

Last I wonder about all this new found focus on the “Course” as the unit of sharing, the mega monolith. wandering farther from “Small Pieces Loosely Joined”. You get the course (if you register) (yes it is free) (but you have to register) the whole course and nothing but the course. If Openness was the value, would not all of these resources, perhaps after the graded/certified/badged course has ended, be put out into the wide open?

Why is no one talking about OERs from MOOCs?

Because it is a commodity, and there is a scramble to make this a business, the stench of investment cash waffles over you like the smell of manure you catch driving through a new suburb carved out of farm land.

Anyone up for #moocvember cause I think the pigs will be doing the same run in a month.

So run, piggy, run, cause you are going to fall behind.

Yet.

In someways this is shaking things up. Larger numbers of people are looking seriously at online learning than ever before. The practice ought to change and improve with time. Old approaches may fall behind. There has been a lot of crappy online offerings going on way before MOOC mania.

While it is farcical and provocative at the same time, I am happy to be here for all the curses the interestingness brings.

But ‘scuse me while I focus on the greatest thing going on that is not a MOOC.