The MOOC, or Massive Open Online Course seems to be the rage this year in higher education. Numerous startups and consortia have formed following pioneering efforts by professors from Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, Michigan, and Athabasca, among others.
- Will MOOCs go away soon, or are they here to stay?
- What will MOOCs look like in 2-3 years?
- How much value could it be for students already enrolled in a credit program?
- How will faculty address issues relating to assessing student outcomes for those interested in authenticating their work?
- What will faculty gain by participating in this movement?
- How will MOOCs be funded if it is free to anyone?
Here are some recent articles:
Daphne Koller, the AI Researcher Who Founded Coursera | MIT Technology Review
Coursera strikes MOOC licensing deal with Antioch University
MOOCs: a massive opportunity for higher education, or digital hype?
Readers: What’s your take about this movement? Join the conversation by posting a comment.
TCCHawaii.org 
Very interesting topic as of late, seems like new MOOC platforms are partnerships are popping up left and right. Lots of questions surround the idea of MOOCs; particularly the meaning of openness in the content (gratis v. libre), the formation of communities inside of 100k+ learner populations, and sustainable business models for the providers. Here’s a recent blog post by the folks at Creative Commons regarding MOOCS and how to keep them truly open: http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/34852