Get Your MOOC On!

Yep.

MOOC.

Massively Open Online Course.

Wikipedia defines MOOC as "an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive user fora that help build a community for students, professors, and teaching assistants (TAs)."

Simply, a MOOC is a online class you take that might have 100's or 1000's of people are participating at a time. They can be a great way to learn new skills while connecting with lots of other people with similar interests.

The Friday Institute at NCSU has developed 3 MOOCs that might be of interest to you.

Coaching Digital Learning | Cultivating a Culture of Change was developed by the Digital Learning Collaborative team at the Friday Institute, led by Verna Lalbeharie, Senior Program Director. Beginning March 10, this course is designed for educators and professionals who guide the integration of digital learning to support and enhance student learning (i.e. instructional technology coaches/facilitators, media specialists, mentor teachers). It will allow participants to learn what it takes to coach educators to integrate technology effectively; explore relevant frameworks, strategies, tools, and resources; experience opportunities for personalized application of new learning and job-embedded practices; and develop and share an Instructional Technology Coaching Action Plan to support their school/district's digital learning culture. For more information about this course or to register, please visit https://courses.mooc-ed.org/cdl1

Division and Multiplication of Whole Numbers: Bridging to Fraction Understanding is the second in the “Mathematics Learning Trajectories for the Common Core” MOOC-Ed series. This professional development series focuses on learning trajectories as a framework for interpreting and implementing the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M). Funded by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation to provide free professional development to educators around the new CCSS, this is the first of four courses that will be released throughout the year.

Division and Multiplication was developed by the GISMO Research Group at the Friday Institute, led by Dr. Jere Confrey and Dr. Alan Maloney. Beginning March 17, the course will introduce a learning trajectory approach to students’ multiplicative reasoning, exploring a stronger conceptual basis for multiplicative reasoning, so that multiplication and division of fractions is an extension of multiplication and division of whole numbers. It is recommended for elementary and middle grades mathematics educators. For more information about this course or to register, please visit https://courses.mooc-ed.org/dvm1

Registration will remain open until the end of Unit 2 for the Planning for the Digital Learning Transition (DLT) in K-12 Schools MOOC-Ed. In collaboration with the Alliance for Excellent Education, the DLT course will help participants understand the potential of digital learning in K-12 schools; assess progress and set future goals for their school or district; and plan to achieve those goals. The course is intended for school and district leaders, as well as any others involved in planning and implementing K-12 digital learning initiatives. For more information about this course or to register, please visit https://courses.mooc-ed.org/dlt3

To learn more about MOOC-Eds, please visit www.mooc-ed.org

Have you participated in a MOOC? Have a suggestion for another MOOC? Leave a comment or two below!

photo credit: IlonkaTallina via photopin cc

A Class You'll Be Excited To Take. #ETMOOC

It's been a few years since I last took a formal "class." My entire Masters degree was done online back in 2009 and 2010 and that wasn't all that traditional at the time. Now it is almost the norm. But I do enjoy learning and I am very interested in the ideas of MOOCs or Massively Open Online Courses and have been for a while.

If you aren't familiar with MOOCs the idea is that major universities (like Harvard, MIT, Georgetown and others) offer courses from their faculty  free, and online, for any one to take. The courses could have hundreds to thousands of students in them. There are several websites, like edX, Coursera, and Udacity that offer these courses to the masses. The beauty of this is, the topics are wide but deep. Interested in physics, computer programming  Greek History, copyright or something in between? You can find it and take it...for free...from some of the brightest minds and best universities on the planet.

So, when I saw #ETMOOC, I had to jump at the chance to take part.

What is #ETMOOC you ask?

It is a MOOC with a focus on educational technology and media. The idea is that we learn from each other and create our own paths of learning. Each week there are several topics (like Sharing is Accountability  Crap Detection, Becoming A Networked Leader) to explore and opportunities for growth and learning with everyone in the #ETMOOC community. Sessions take place in Blackboard Collaborate and are archived and repeated if you can't make the time. Also there are shared activities to do and share. A weekly Twitter chat on Thursdays will help expand our knowledge and sharing as well.

I am excited to take part and learn with and from everyone else.

You can learn more about the development of #ETMOOC in this post from one of the creators, Alec Couros. You can also visit the #ETMOOC website to learn more about what will be covered and sign up to participate. Oh and you can follow the #ETMOOC hashtag on Twitter to see what people are saying there.

The course starts next week (Jan 14) so be sure to sign up soon.