First View From the Balcony: MOOCs 101 - #edcmooc

In my world, the notion of "open" and the world of MOOCs is increasingly a topic of conversation. As in all conversations, we come to the table, encumbered by our past experiences, preconceived ideas and assumptions. It's hard to lay these down, but I'm making every effort. My concept map is open for edits.

I've enrolled in the MOOC, E-Learning and Digital Cultures ( #edcmooc ) in the attempt to expand my thinking about the concept of a "course", see how an enrollment of thousands in an online course approaches becoming a learning community, learn how online student and instructor presence becomes visible and discover how participants interact with content and with each other.

My early impression of the course site is positive. It is a visually clean presentation, with clear links to general course information, Block 1, Block 2 and Final assignment. The first assignment presents four videos for viewing, guiding questions and readings about utopias and dystopias. All provide food for thought, concepts and some words that lack familiarity.  So, the MOOC has put me onto my own learning path. However, I'm a slow reader and I find it difficult to commit the required time; time that I tell myself competes with other obligations at work and at home. However, at the end of the day, I know it simply boils down to CHOICES about how we spend our time.

Although I have not publicly shared my comments about the Block 1 videos and the reading I have done (as I still feel behind), I have he luxury of being able to converse with my colleague, Dr. Britt Watwood and read his blog, Learning in a Flat World. We discussed this today and I realized that Britt's and other blogs can serve the same purpose as Cliff Notes to assist one in gaining insight and learning. 

Britt and I jointly watched the Google Hangout that was hosted by the Instructors on Friday, February 1 and we monitored the accompanying Twitter conversation. I found this to be engaging. I felt like I was present with the instructors, who shared their personalities, their sense of humor, their knowledge and their own desire to learn. I felt that the instructors were engaged with the content and with questions and postings by several of the students. So, my question: how does one engage with thousands of students?, began to be answered. Instructors sampled various student input, seemed to find the common concerns and they addressed them as if each were present "in the room". Their advance preparation and attention to real-time Twitter posts was brilliant! 

It is clear that there are many "in the room" (like me), who are here to learn what a MOOC is all about. As though the experience of one MOOC will define all MOOCs. Ha! We are participating in various ways, but we are all looking down on the stage to see the action; hence the title of my blog, A View From the Balcony.  

One gets out of learning opportunities what one puts into them. I see that a MOOC can provide the opportunity for sustained and/or serial engagement, provide the benefit of communit(ies), encourage asynchronous and synchronous conversation and promote learning. I still wrestle with the definition of a "course", but I'm far more OPEN than I thought I would be; and I'm learning.


PS: I should have read bwatwood's post before I wrote this. Once again the master could have saved me time. :=)