ROLE OF MOOCs IN MODERN EDUCATION

Mrs. Rosamma Joseph
Page No. 13-17

MOOCs are modern online courses for many participants at the same time ("massive"), without
access restrictions ("open"), and in an online course format (with video lectures and integrated
tests).The term “MOOC” was coined by David Cormier in 2008 to describe a twelve-week online
course, Connectivism and Connected Knowledge, designed by George Siemens and Stephen
Downes.There are two types of MOOCs-cMOOC and xMOOC. MOOCs created by universities or
educational institutions are offered through various platforms like Coursera, edX, Futurelearn
etc.MOOCs facilitate knowledge sharing, active and deep learning. The reach of MOOCs is very
high in all parts of the world. MOOCs can never replace traditional teaching completely as many
courses need hands-on training and it can’t offer the teacher-student relationship given in
traditional teaching. But MOOCs play a big role in higher education and professional development.
Keywords : MOOC, education, MOOC platform.