Invitation… Challenges, opportunities with MOOCs in Higher Education

Following on from the successful Open Minds Seminar series in 2012, a Community of Practice has been established for Otago staff to share experiences and ask questions about what it means to be an ‘open scholar’. Over the course of our two-monthly meetings we might debate questions like:

• Are MOOCs the greatest opening up of education ever or just an ivy league branding exercise?
• Could I run my own class like a MOOC or use one within mine?
• What does open access publishing mean for me?
• What’s all this about governments decreeing that research outcomes must be made open?
• What happens if I put my data ‘out there’?

In the first meeting we will be exploring the opportunities and challenges for higher education presented by MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). Together we will discuss the principles of MOOCs, share experiences and look at the possibilities MOOCs present for Otago in more depth.

June 10, 1pm

University of Otago Central Library Conference Room 3

Some resources you might find useful to get you started:

• Watch the TedTalk by Daphne Koller co-founder of Coursera, discussing MOOCs.
• Read Tony Bates’ comments: What’s right and what’s wrong about Coursera-style MOOCs?
• Take a look at a useful infographic exploring MOOCs.
• Read a paper on MOOCs by Sir John Daniel, ex VC of the UK Open University.
• An article from the New Yorker: Laptop U – has the future of college moved online?

Feel free to bring your lunch and come along with any ideas for future topic.