Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 2, Fall 2014 | Page 7

Internet Learning Volume 3 Number 2 - Fall 2014
Enter the Anti-MOOCs: The Reinvention of Online
Learning as a Form of Social Commentary
Larry Johnson & Samantha Adams Becker A
Introduction
The term “massive open online
course,” (MOOC) although coined in
2008 by Stephen Downes and George
Siemens, really came into broad use in 2012.
Since then, MOOCs have gained public
awareness with a ferocity not seen in some
time. World-renowned universities, including
MIT and Harvard University (edX) and
Stanford University (Coursera), as well as innovative
start-ups such as Udacity, jumped
into the marketplace with huge splashes,
and have garnered a tremendous amount of
attention — and imitation. Designed to provide
high quality, online learning at scale to
people regardless of their location or educational
background, MOOCs have been met
with enthusiasm because of their potential to
reach a previously unimaginable number of
learners. The notion of thousands and even
tens of thousands of students participating
in a single course — working at their own
pace, relying on their own style of learning,
and assessing each other’s progress — has
changed the landscape of online learning.
A number of respected thought
leaders, however, believe that the current
manifestation of MOOCs has significantly
deviated from the initial premise outlined
by George Siemens and Stephen Downes
when they pioneered the first courses in
Canada. They envisioned MOOCs as ecosystems
of connectivism — a pedagogy in
which knowledge is not a destination but an
ongoing activity, fueled by the relationships
people build and the deep discussions catalyzed
within the MOOC. That model emphasizes
knowledge production over consumption,
and new knowledge that emerges
from the process helps to sustain and evolve
the MOOC environment.
Despite their philosophical distinctions,
one aspect that both early and contemporary
MOOCs have in common is
that there is little common ground in any of
this landscape. Each MOOC example puts
forth its own model of how online learning
should work at scale. Some MOOCs leverage
a multitude of emerging pedagogies and
tools, including blended learning, open educational
resources, and crowdsourced interaction;
others follow a fairly traditional
lecture-based model, using studio-produced
videos. The technologies that enable the
workflow of MOOCs vary in different models,
but in its early conceptions, the bias was
toward tools that were readily available and
easy to use. Early MOOCs drew upon cloudbased
services such as Wikispaces, YouTube,
and Google Hangouts, among many others,
to foster discussions, create and share videos,
and engage in all the other activities
that have become essential to teaching and
learning in a modern online learning environment.
While extremely promising, the
more current MOOC models differ from
those connectivist models, and largely mirror
traditional lecture formats. Coursera, for
example, is centered around video lectures
led by renowned educators from prestigious
universities in popular areas such as microeconomics
and artificial intelligence. Stu-
A
New Media Consortium
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