MOOCs or Massive Open Online Courses are becoming more and more popular, especially among employees and training or HR managers. Discover everything you need to know behind the MOOC concept and its specificities.
Origin of MOOC
A MOOC, as said before, is the acronym for “Massive Open Online Courses” or”Online courses open to all“in French. MOOCs are born in the United States around the years 2008-2009. This initiative came from famous universities such as MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) or Harvard, whose primary objective was to create a non-profit organization that would offer online courses, such aselearning, but open to all.
What are the characteristics of a MOOC?
Each letter that makes up the acronym MOOC designates an essential aspect of it. As the MOOC is gaining more and more popularity, the name of the concept is often used to refer to courses that have nothing in common with what MOOCs really are. To be qualified as a MOOC, a course must respect the characteristics of each of the definitions of the letters of the acronym.
The letter C for Course:
The “Course” part of a MOOC is governed by various aspects. A MOOC takes place over a few weeks and is organized over time.. This allows the preparation of promotions of learners similar to what can be found for face-to-face training.
A MOOC consists of various educational activities. Examples include the establishment of quizzes to check whether knowledge has been acquired, the viewing of 5 to 10 minute videos, collaborative work as well as practical exercises which will be used to develop skills, but also the network.
The letter O for Online:
Registration for a MOOC is done directly online. In addition, the entire course is also directly accessible on the Internet. All you have to do is connect to the platform responsible for distributing educational resources and activities. MOOCs thus benefit from all the innovations coming from Web 2.0. They benefit from the encounter between the contributions of pedagogy and the new uses coming from social networks.
Learning no longer takes place vertically, with knowledge going from the teacher to the learner. It also takes place horizontally with exchanges that take place between students and the teaching team. All of this is possible thanks to the social features on the platforms.
The letter O for Open:
This part aims to determine the targets of MOOCs. As you might have guessed, the O in Open indicates that MOOCs are open to everyone and registration does not require any fees. Originally, MOOCs were intended for students. However, we are currently noticing that The typical profile of the MOOC participant is the employee who seeks to acquire and master new skills. In addition, a certificate of achievement will be issued to him at the end of the tests. Thus, MOOCs are a training method that is increasingly popular with companies to train their employees.
The letter M for Massive:
The last characteristic specific to a MOOC is none other than its significant extent. In fact, this can be followed by a potentially unlimited number of learners. In the space of a few years, this number has grown to hundreds of thousands of students and now reaches tens of millions around the world.
The structure and benefits of MOOCs
From the elements listed above, it is possible to identify the typical structure of a MOOC. It thus includes 3 essential components, namely:
- Sequences videos ;
- Of certification and training activities aimed at training (quiz) with the validation of the modules and the entire training;
- Of interaction tools allowing exchanges with members of the teaching team and other learners.
Following a MOOC brings a number of significant advantages:
- This type of training allows you to acquire new skills professionals or to complement those already acquired;
- The certifications issued at the end of the training can make your More attractive resume ;
- You can have access to the courses offered in largest schools and universities in the world ;
- You can Learn anytime and anywhere.
A MOOC often lasts a few weeks. To give an idea, a MOOC generally takes place over 4 to 12 weeks. He has a Rate of publication in continuous format. This allows new learners to Register anytime and join others in the current sessions. Depending on the platform, personalized deadlines can then be established in order to allow learners to manage their training time according to their personal constraints.
A MOOC is therefore an online training method that is characterized by real courses with a system ofknowledge and certification assessment, which generally last a few weeks in a continuous format. These courses are available free online and open to all those who want to participate in the training. A MOOC can bring together a potentially infinite number of people, because everything takes place on the online platform. This aspect thus benefits a more open learning system to exchanges between learners and training teams, which has the effect of constantly evolving the courses.
