How familiar are educators with Moocs? What about “post-Mooc”?

Listening to Howard Gardner this summer he was genuinely surprised how few educators were familiar with Moocs. Although you may not be familiar with the term Mooc it is likely that the concept of massive, open, online courses is not new. There are ample sites that connect you with course materials, communities, videos, readings etc. Some of you may have spent time exploring I-Tunes U where whole courses can be accessed via an App. If you have the technology then people can effectively learn anything, anywhere, including courses from some of the most renowned universities. A colleague of mine recently shared the website Coursea https://www.coursera.org/ where you can search for different free online courses. You might also wish to explore Future Learn (https://www.futurelearn.com/) which is an online platform of free courses from UK universities.

I was interested to read an article on the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24166247) as Harvard University is suggesting that the institution has now developed the “post-Mooc”. Spoc (small, private online course) has now arrived on the scene.

Whether we are talking about Moocs or Spocs it seems to me that the concept of online learning and access to free courses is a game changer. It is now far easier for learners to access information of choice, and engage with and create learning communities. I wonder how well schools are preparing young people (and the wider school community) for game changing technologies.