http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
According to Simonson (2012) “open source software is intended to be freely shared and can be improved upon and redistributed to others,” (pg. 141) and more than half of the course management systems that exist are open source. The software source code is also open to modification by a user or a developer. Open source is one of the most popular developments in online distance learning tools. One of the reasons why it has become so popular is the fact that it is often free, and it has the ability to fit the need of the user.
MOOCs present something different in online learning. In this situation there is not instructor and no grades meaning the student has all of the responsibility of completing the course. In this case it is even more pertinent that the design is top notch, as it is the only thing keeping the student moving and motivated throughout the course. The learner “is often considered after the planning and organizing of the hardware, the content, and the instructional place. But it is the learner who is the crucial member of the distance learning system. It is the learner who needs to be considered early in the planning…” (Simonson et al, 2012, pg 218)
The open source example I chose to look at is MIT/OCW. MIT is one of the success stories in open source learning. “Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the success story in this category, as this college started the initiative that pulled many colleges from all over the world into the OER initiative. In 1999, Provost Robert A. Brown asked a committee of MIT faculty, students, and administrators to provide strategic guidance on how MIT could advance knowledge and education to students in science, technology, and other scholarship areas. This mission was to literally fulfill MIT’s mission statement about how to best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century” (OEBd, 2007). Basically MIT is providing students with open access to their course calendars, assignments, and lectures, but as the website states this are not to be considered as distance learning initiatives; credits and degrees are not offered through this courses and there are no professors. (OEBd, 2007). MIT has shown what open source courses can offer.
For me as a student and as an educator, I feel that open source learning may only be successful for a small number of students. Collaboration is an important part of active learning. I do not see opportunities for collaboration in a MOOC as they are set up as a self paced class with no forms of synchronous learning. Simonson et al (2012) says, “…strategies for active learning range from giving students opportunities to think about a topic and respond, to actual hands-on manipulation of learning objects” (pp. 201). I just do not see how a MOOC can give students different aspects of learning to meet the needs of each student. This just supports my feeling that MOOCs only work for a small number of online learners. I know that personally I would not do well in a course like this. I would love that it is at my pace, but I would hate the fact that there would be no discussion or collaboration with my classmates or my professor to ask questions. “Successful distance learning programs are interactive and allow frequent opportunities for participants to engage in a dialogue with subject-matter experts and other learners” (Simonson et al, 2012, pg. 174).
MOOCs would be best for adult learners who are self motivated and would enjoy the large amount of autonomy that this kind of class would offer.
Resources
OEDb. 2007. Online Education Database. How the Open Source Movement Has Changed Education: 10 Success Stories.
http://oedb.org/library/features/how-the-open-source-movement-has-changed-education-10-success-stories
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson