THAT Conference New England, May 2014

Maureen Ebben, Communication and Media Studies and Julien Murphy, Philosophy

University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine

TITLE:  Using MOOCs as a Resource for Teaching and Learning

This “Talk” session will explore the ways in which MOOCs may be used as a resource for teaching and learning.  Given the proliferation of MOOCs, it would seem that MOOC content might be usefully repurposed to a variety of other contexts.  For example, the elements that make up MOOCs such as videos, exercises, readings, potentially even the discussion boards, etc., might enrich a more traditional class, a project, or a community effort.

Some questions to explore in this session include:  What are the best ways to use MOOC resources?  Has anyone done this?  What are the pros and cons?  Is it possible to use just a piece of a MOOC, or do they not allow themselves to be carved up like this?  We’ve heard of professors signing up for a MOOC, along with their students, so that the whole class was enrolled in the MOOC for the duration of the regular class.  That is quite a commitment.  Are there other more nuanced ways to utilize MOOCs?  How open are MOOC resources to this type of a la carte approach?  Do MOOC copyright restrictions and packaging preclude this?  Are there aspects of the timing of MOOCs, such as the start and end dates, that would need to be considered?  These, as well as other questions, will be discussed.