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<b>MOOCs - Massive Online Open Courses</b> <br/>

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<h1>Introduction</h1>
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(the information in this introduction was taken from the<a href="http://futurelearn.com/moocs-explained/" class="urlextern" title="http://futurelearn.com/moocs-explained/" rel="nofollow">Futurelearn website</a><br/>

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"MOOCs (or Massive Open Online Courses) have become increasingly popular since they first emerged in 2008. Free and easily accessible online MOOCs offer large numbers of students the opportunity to study high quality courses with prestigious universities. Whilst MOOCs don’t always lead to formal qualifications, they allow students to gain invaluable knowledge to support their careers, or their own personal learning goals. There are no entry requirements and students can take part in the courses regardless of where they live<br/>

in the world or their financial circumstances.Because they are online, MOOCs are highly scalable and thousands of students can take part in any one course. MOOCs offer large numbers of students the opportunity to study high quality courses with prestigious universities.
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<h2>How did MOOCs start?</h2>
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MOOCs are a direct response to the digital, networked world where people have access to huge amounts of information online and where they form virtual communities with people who share their interests. MOOCs use these networks to enable students to connect share and collaborate with virtual ‘classmates’ across geographical and cultural boundaries.<br/>

So far, the US has been the main hub for MOOCs, with a variety of universities contributing courses and developing online platforms to host them. However, the concept of learning online isn’t new. The Open University has been offering open educational resources for years through its highly successful OpenLearn website, and via its courses on iTunes U. Futurelearn is building on this expertise to provide courses from a range of the UK’s top universities to learners across the globe.<br/>

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<h2>How do MOOCs work?</h2>
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Most existing MOOCs have a specific start and finish date and students sign up online. The courses are usually offered two to three times a year and tend to last for weeks rather than months. A student can use a wide range of media and interactive online tools to engage with other participants and learn alongside them. These might include video lectures, online discussion boards, blogs, wikis and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. In addition to this online engagement some courses also include opportunities for students to meet each other face to face.<br/>

Due to the large number of students studying MOOCs, learning support comes from the online learning community rather than academic staff. Equally, assessment of MOOC courses includes peer-assessed written assignments and computer marked tests.<br/>

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MOOCs attempt to encourage students to be independent and self-motivating. Students that really embrace the course are rewarded with authentic online networks and peer relationships that can continue beyond the end of the course.A student can use a wide range of media and interactive online tools to engage with other participants and learn alongside them.<br/>

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<a href="http://futurelearn.com/about/" class="urlextern" title="http://futurelearn.com/about/" rel="nofollow">A UK MOOC -Futurelearn</a> "Futurelearn is the first UK-led, multi-institutional platform for free, open, online courses. We will increase access to higher education for students in the UK and around the world by offering a diverse range of high quality courses through a single website. We are partnering with the British Library, British Council and 17 of the UK’s top universities and will launch our first courses later this year."<br/>

Futurelearn is a private company solely owned by the Open University.<br/>

Futurelearn is working in partnership with the British Council, the British Library, the British Museum and the following universities:<br/>

University of Bath<br/>

University of Birmingham<br/>

Bristol University<br/>

Cardiff University<br/>

University of East Anglia (UEA)<br/>

University of Exeter<br/>

University of Glasgow<br/>

King’s College London<br/>

Lancaster University<br/>

University of Leeds<br/>

University of Leicester<br/>

Loughborough University<br/>

University of Nottingham<br/>

The Open University<br/>

Queen’s University, Belfast<br/>

University of Reading<br/>

The University of Sheffield<br/>

University of Southampton<br/>

University of St Andrews<br/>

University of Strathclyde<br/>

University of Warwick
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<h1>Resources, Articles etc</h1>
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<a href="http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/whitepapers/Environmental%20Scan%20and%20Assessment.pdf" class="urlextern" title="http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/whitepapers/Environmental%20Scan%20and%20Assessment.pdf" rel="nofollow">What Effectiveness and Sustainability Means for Libraries</a>’ Impact on Open Education<br/>

Environmental Scan and Assessment of OERs, MOOCs and Libraries: Carmen Kazakoff-Lane ACRL White Paper March 2014<br/>

"Libraries can and should support open education. It fits with librarians’ professional support for access to information as a public good, the institutional mandate of academic libraries to support teaching and research, and the professional obligations of librarians in public libraries to support continuing education".<br/>

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<a href="http://www.infodocket.com/2013/09/10/moocs-google-and-edx-announce-partnership-launching-new-site-next-year/#_" class="urlextern" title="http://www.infodocket.com/2013/09/10/moocs-google-and-edx-announce-partnership-launching-new-site-next-year/#_" rel="nofollow">MOOCs: Google and EdX Announce Partnership</a>, Will Launch New Site Next Year<br/>

By Gary Price. Infodocket (Library Journal). 10 September 2013<br/>

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<em>"EdX today announced its partnership with Google to jointly develop the edX open source learning platform, Open edX, and expand the availability of the platform and its learning tools to individuals and institutions around the world.In collaboration with Google, edX will build out and operate MOOC.org [launching in early 2014], a new site for non-xConsortium universities, institutions, businesses, governments and teachers to build and host their courses for a global audience. This site will be powered by the jointly developed Open edX platform. Google will work on the core platform development with leading experts from many edX partner institutions, including MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Stanford, University of Western Australia, University of Queensland, and Tsinghua University. In addition, edX and Google will collaborate on research into how students learn and how technology can transform learning and teaching on campus and beyond."</em> <br/>

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<b>Blogs on the event</b> <br/>

The event was live blogged by Sheila Webber Information Literacy Weblog<br/>

<a href="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/why-do-i-mooc-experiences-of-mooc.html" class="urlextern" title="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/why-do-i-mooc-experiences-of-mooc.html" rel="nofollow">Why do I MOOC, the experiences of a MOOC learner</a><br/>

<a href="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/challenges-for-libraries-us-case-study.html" class="urlextern" title="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/challenges-for-libraries-us-case-study.html" rel="nofollow">Challenges for Libraries, a US Case Study</a><br/>

<a href="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/an-overview-of-moocs-and-libraries-to.html" class="urlextern" title="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/an-overview-of-moocs-and-libraries-to.html" rel="nofollow">An overview of MOOCs and Libraries to date, based on OCLC Research</a><br/>

<a href="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/moocs-and-libraries-mooclib.html" class="urlextern" title="http://information-literacy.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/moocs-and-libraries-mooclib.html" rel="nofollow">MOOCs and libraries</a><br/>

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There is also a <a href="http://www.libfocus.com/2013/07/moocs-and-libraries-good-bad-and-ugly.html" class="urlextern" title="http://www.libfocus.com/2013/07/moocs-and-libraries-good-bad-and-ugly.html" rel="nofollow">short summary (guest post) </a>on the Libfocus blog by Laura Connaughton, Assistant Librarian, NUI Maynooth<br/>

The aim of the day was to “focus on the challenges MOOCs pose to the traditional delivery of library services, and the opportunities they offer for libraries to rethink and revitalise their proposition”.<br/>

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<a href="http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Massive-and-Open---MOOCs-and-the-transformation-of-HE-89550.aspx" class="urlextern" title="http://www.infotoday.eu/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Massive-and-Open---MOOCs-and-the-transformation-of-HE-89550.aspx" rel="nofollow">Massive and Open - MOOCs and the transformation of HE</a>. Ian Clark explores how MOOCs could transform higher education and how the role of librarians might change. Ian Clark. Information Today10 May 2013<br/>

<em>"In the UK, concerns about the uncertain future of higher education seem to have been dominating the narrative around the sector for some time. From the abolition of student grants, to the introduction of tuition fees, to the Browne review and the shockwaves sent across the sector that we are still attempting to grapple with. Whilst the ramifications of the Browne review are still not totally clear, a new challenge has already reared its head, posing questions about where the sector will be five, ten or twenty years from now.</em> <br/>

<em>The growth of massive online open courses (or MOOCs) has certainly given the sector much to ponder. MOOCs first emerged in 2008, offering students a unique opportunity to study courses with prestigious universities across the globe. Hosted online, these courses enable thousands of students to take part in any course and encourage them to engage with a broad range of online tools to support their studies and broaden their learning. Furthermore, they empower students to engage in independent study, whilst garnering support from the online learning community rather than academic staff. It’s not difficult to see why they present a challenge for the HE sector."</em> <br/>

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<em><a href="http://hangingtogether.org/?p=2666" class="urlextern" title="http://hangingtogether.org/?p=2666" rel="nofollow">MOOCs and Libraries: Introduction</a>.by Merrilee. Hangingtogether.org [OCLC Research blog].</em><em>9th April 2013.</em> <br/>

<em>‘where is the library? …. libraries are engaging in issues around copyright and IP, and are actively looking to see how to appropriately embed library services and research skills into these new and evolving environments. Encouragingly, some libraries are part of the core teams being formed on campus which are planning and executing on MOOCs — these partnerships are vital, especially if MOOCs are seen as important to the campus. To be blunt, if it’s politically important, libraries need to be there.’</em> <br/>

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<a href="http://www.oclc.org/research/events/2013/03-18.html" class="urlextern" title="http://www.oclc.org/research/events/2013/03-18.html" rel="nofollow">MOOCs and Libraries:Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge</a>? Event March 2013<br/>

"This meeting featured thoughtful and provocative presentations about how libraries are already getting involved with MOOCs, and engaged attendees in discussions about strategic opportunities and challenges going forward. Tweet: #mooclib.<br/>

Live stream of the event and other resources are <a href="http://www.oclc.org/research/events/2013/03-18.html" class="urlextern" title="http://www.oclc.org/research/events/2013/03-18.html" rel="nofollow">available</a><br/>

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<a href="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21567373-american-universities-represent-declining-value-money-their-students-not-what-it" class="urlextern" title="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21567373-american-universities-represent-declining-value-money-their-students-not-what-it" rel="nofollow">[Higher education] Not what it used to be</a>. American universities represent declining value for money to their students. Economist 1st Dec 2012<br/>

'The broader significance of MOOCs is that they are part of a trend towards the unbundling of higher education. … universities will come under pressure to move to something more like a “buffet” arrangement, under which they will accept credits from each other—and from students who take courses at home or even at high school, spending much less time on campus. StraighterLine, a start-up based in Baltimore, is already selling courses that gain students credits for a few hundred dollars.'
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