Massive Open Online Courses

Abstract

With the creation of online courses, colleges and universities created flexibility for students virtually impossible a few years earlier. No longer would a sizeable percentage of students be prevented from taking courses at their institution because of a conflict with a varying and sometimes arbitrary schedule of classes taught at a specific time in a specific place. Now students could avail themselves of learning opportunities at a time and place of their own choosing. Despite this increased freedom, students were still bound by entrance requirements, prerequisites, and institutional affiliations. With the creation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the first decade of the 21st century, many, if not most, of these restrictions disappeared. Now post-secondary coursework is available free to virtually anyone who wants to enroll, with age, finances status, institutional affiliation, experience, and geography ceasing to be barriers. This chapter reviews the history of distance education, discusses the emergence and characteristics of MOOCs, and identifies some of the more pressing challenges such courses pose to students, faculties, and institutions themselves.