This week I signed up for my first MOOC aka “massively open online course”. The course, Instructional Ideas and Technology Tools for Online Success,
is both open enrollment and cohort based with a start and an end date -
not to mention free. As of today I am learning along with over 1800
others from Dr. Curtis Bonk
who is an expert in course design and how people learn. Dr.Bonk not
only designed the course but has also provided quite a bit of the
content where learners also contribute and act as teachers. Using the
tools within the course, along with social media outside the course, we
are encouraged to collaborate with our classmates through the sharing of
our own experiences, ideas, thoughts, and resources.The sheer number of
students is overwhelming but we are able to choose how to connect and
share what we are learning with others. The course is delivered using CourseSites by
Blackboard which is a free, hosted online course creation service
available to any educator who wants to use it. Using the latest
Blackboard technology this course is also demonstrating the capabilities
of Blackboard with regards to course design and effective
collaboration.
I will be posting my thoughts and what I am learning over the next 5
weeks. Registration ends on 4-30 so it’s not too late to join me on the
journey!
