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Spring 2017

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With the many technological advances we are experiencing and the many changes in the education field. Teachers must be flexible and ready to adapt to change to help students be productive members of society.

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“A way to connect and collaborate while developing digital skills”

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This short video explains what an MOOC is.

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Massive Open Online courses

Dave Cormier created the term MOOC in 2008

Was used mainly for open web resources

2012 was the year of MOOC

Coursera, Udacity and edX emerged in 2012

Most are free and opened to the public.

By 2012 more than 1.5 million people registered in an MOOC

The U.S. has 27.7% enrollment in Coursera

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People who use MOOC

Gain knowledge

use it as a refresher before going back to school.

it's a good study aid

Help people become knowledgeable in a certain topic or area.

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In the last three years, over 25 million people from around the world have enrolled in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by Coursera, EdX, and other platforms. Initially heralded as a revolution in higher education access, expectations have been tempered as research revealed that only a small percentage of these millions were completing the courses, approximately 80% already had at least a bachelor's degree, nearly 60% were employed full-time, and 60% came from developed countries (defined as members of the OECD). MOOCs seemed to be serving the most advantaged, the headlines blared, and most people weren't even completing them.

Are MOOCs merely an intellectual diversion for the well educated and well-off? Do they provide any tangible benefits? We are not neutral parties. Three of us work at Coursera, and the rest of us are from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Washington, institutions that have offered MOOCs on the Coursera platform. Two of us have taught Coursera courses, and we have analyzed Coursera's data for our research. Nonetheless, we believe we have some evidence that the MOOC skeptics are overly pessimistic. Our latest research demonstrates that among learners who complete courses, MOOCs do have a real impact: 72% of survey respondents reported career benefits and 61% reported educational benefits.

Furthermore, our findings suggest that people from developing countries more frequently report benefits from taking MOOCs and, also in developing countries, people with lower socioeconomic status and with less education are more likely to report benefits. It appears that MOOCs are tangibly helping people who take the time and effort to complete courses.
Who Takes MOOCs?
In December 2014 we sent a survey to 780,000 people, from 212 countries and territories, all of whom had completed a Coursera MOOC prior to September 1, 2014. (For more on the data, see the sidebar.)

Of the nearly 52,000 respondents, 58% were male, 58% were employed full-time, 22% were full-time or part-time students in a traditional academic setting, and 83% had at least a bachelor's degree. Thirty-four percent were from the U.S., 39% from other OECD countries, and 26% were from non-OECD countries. The median age of respondents was 41, with a range of 31 to 55 years of age for the 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively. This cohort is similar to previous studies of Coursera users except they are somewhat more educated, less frequently male, and significantly older. They also are somewhat more educated and less male than a recent study of EdX users. (Some people were more likely to respond to the survey than others; for instance, those from OECD countries and those who had completed more than one MOOC filled out our survey in greater numbers. We addressed this potential bias in our survey sample, using iterative proportional fitting to obtain reweighted estimates of reported career and education benefits.) All differences based on survey results included in this paper are statistically significant at p<.01.

The critics are right that most people who start a MOOC don't finish: just 4% of Coursera users who watch at least one course lecture go on to complete the course and receive a credential. However, given the large number of users involved, the absolute reach of MOOCs is still significant. For instance, more than one million people have completed a Coursera course since its inception in 2012, with over 2.1 million course completions as of April 2015.
Career Builders
We asked Coursera course completers about two types of outcomes: career benefits and educational benefits. Career benefits are the more common reason for taking a MOOC. Fifty-two percent of the people surveyed report a primary goal of improving their current job or finding a new job - they are "career builders."

Of these career builders, 87% report a career benefit of some kind. We asked about tangible career benefits - getting a raise, finding a new job, or starting a new business - as well as intangible ones such as enhancing skills for a current job or improving their ability to get a new job. Tangible career benefits are more difficult to achieve than more abstract outcomes such as being better equipped to do your current work. Thirty-three percent of career builders report a tangible benefit as a result of completing a MOOC, with the majority of those respondents finding a new job or starting their own business. These data indicate that the vast majority of those who complete MOOCs specifically for career benefits find those benefits, with approximately one-third of course completers reporting a more direct, tangible benefit such as getting a new job.

But which users are receiving these benefits?

Since previous research has shown that MOOC enrollees predominantly are well-educated residents of developed countries, it would not be surprising if advantaged populations from developed countries were deriving the most benefits from completing MOOCs. However, whereas our research confirms the demographics of users taking these courses, the analysis on who is benefiting suggests a very different conclusion. Among all career builders, we find that general career benefits (both tangible and intangible) are more likely to be reported by people with higher socioeconomic status and higher levels of education. The story is different, however, when you look at tangible career benefits specifically. In developed countries, career builders with low socioeconomic status and lower levels of education report tangible career benefits at about the same rate as those with high status and lots of education. And in developing countries, those with lower levels of socioeconomic status and education are significantly more likely to report tangible career benefits.

The differences between general career benefits and tangible career benefits may be attributable to different needs among different populations. People who already have a high-skill job are likely to benefit most from up-skilling to improve at their current job (general career benefits), whereas people who do not have such a job are more likely to benefit from re-skilling to transition to a new job (tangible career benefits).
Education Seekers
Twenty-eight percent of all people who completed a MOOC enroll primarily to achieve an academic goal - they are "education seekers." Of education seekers, 88% report an educational benefit of some kind. Eighty-seven percent report an intangible educational benefit (such as gaining knowledge in their field), and 18% report a tangible educational benefit - either gaining credit toward an academic degree or completing prerequisites for an academic program. People from developing countries are more likely to be education seekers, as are people with lower socioeconomic status.

The chart above shows the breakdown of tangible and intangible education benefits from MOOCs. Our research revealed even more insights, including that approximately half (47%) of education seekers are students in a traditional academic setting. Among these traditional students, 94% report some educational benefits from taking a MOOC. Twenty-four percent specifically report a tangible educational benefit. The most common educational benefits are gaining knowledge essential to their field of study (76.6%) and deciding on a field of study (40.3%). Among these traditional students, the findings are consistent across region, education, and socioeconomic status.

Among the education seekers who are not in a traditional academic setting, disadvantaged populations are more likely to report educational benefits. Education seekers from developing countries were more likely to report educational benefits; those with low socioeconomic status were more likely to report benefits than those with higher status; and those without a postgraduate degree were more likely to report benefits than those with one.

In addition, older non-students are using MOOCs to prepare for an eventual return to school. For instance, people aged 25 to 40 who are full-time homemakers or caregivers are more likely to report using MOOCs to refresh key concepts prior to returning to school.

Overall

Seventy-two percent of the Coursera participants we surveyed reported career benefits and 61% reported educational benefits.
Career Builders
Fifty-two percent of the people surveyed reported a primary goal of improving their current job or finding a new job-they are "career builders". Of these career builders, 87% reported a career benefit of some kind. 33% of career-builders reported a tangible career benefit, like finding a new job or starting a business.

Among career builders, general career benefits are more likely to be reported by people with higher socioeconomic status (90% for the top 30% by SES vs. 81% for the bottom 30%) and higher levels of education (88% for learners with a college degree or higher vs. 86% for learners with no post-secondary degree).

But for tangible career benefits things look different. Career builders from non-OECD countries are more likely to report tangible career benefits (36% vs. 32%).

Of career builders from OECD countries, we see no statistically significant difference in tangible career benefit between the top and bottom 30% by socioeconomic status (34% vs 32%). Strikingly, among career builders from non-OECD countries, learners with low socioeconomic status are actually more likely to report tangible career benefit (39% vs 35%).

Furthermore, career builders with lower levels of education were also more likely to report tangible career benefits (33% for learners with a college degree or higher vs 38% for learners with no post-secondary degree). In particular, among career builders from non-OECD countries, career builders with lower levels of educational attainment are more likely to report career benefits (35% for learners with a college degree or higher vs 42% for learners with no post-secondary degree).
Education Seekers
Twenty-eight percent of all people who completed a MOOC enrolled primarily to achieve an academic goal-they are "education seekers". People from non-OECD countries are more likely to be education seekers (36% vs. 24% from OECD countries), as are people from the bottom 30% by socioeconomic status (37% vs. 22% from the top 30%).

Of education seekers, 88% report any educational benefit and 18% report a tangible educational benefit, like gaining knowledge essential to their field of study.

Approximately half (47%) of education seekers are students in a traditional academic setting. Ninety-four percent of these traditional students report some educational benefits. Twenty-four percent of these students in a traditional academic setting report a tangible educational benefit.

Less-advantaged groups are more likely to report educational benefits. Eighty-seven percent of non-student education seekers from non-OECD countries report educational benefits compared to 80% from OECD countries; 91% with low socioeconomic status report educational benefits, compared to 86% with high socioeconomic status; and 92% without a post-secondary degree report educational benefits, compared to 86% with a post-secondary degree.

Education seekers who were older or full-time homemakers or caregivers were also more likely to report using MOOCs to refresh key concepts prior to returning to school. Thirty-eight percent of education seekers between 25 and 40 report using MOOCs to refresh concepts, compared to 35% for education seekers younger than 25; 53% of full-time homemakers or caretakers reported using MOOCs to refresh key concepts, compared to 36% for other education seekers.
Overall findings

In our survey, the overwhelming majority of people who complete MOOCs report career or educational benefits, and a substantial proportion report tangible benefits such as getting a new job, starting a business, or completing prerequisites for an academic program. Both career and educational benefits are more likely reported by people from developing countries. Economically and academically disadvantaged populations are taking particular advantage of MOOCs. Within developing countries, tangible career benefits are most likely to be reported by people with lower levels of education and lower socioeconomic status. Among non-student MOOC completers, people with lower socioeconomic status, people with lower levels of education, and people from developing countries are all more likely to report educational benefits.

These findings support some of the early hopes that MOOCs would provide a life-changing opportunity for those who are less advantaged and have limited access to education. Of course, MOOCs are still available only to people who have access to the internet, and completion rates remain low. However, there are now over 1 million people who have completed courses from Coursera alone, more than 100,000 people have certified completion from HarvardX and MITx courses, and our findings suggest that many of them derived career or educational benefits from the opportunity.

Continued innovation and research needs to focus on two main issues: First, how should people be supported to complete MOOCs so as to secure desired career and educational benefits? Second, are people who engage with some MOOC content without completing the course also realizing career and educational benefits?

This type of research illustrates the possibilities MOOCs offer to change the educational landscape. The courses are reaching large numbers of people, and disadvantaged learners are more likely to report tangible benefits. Of course they aren't a cure-all for the myriad problems of global education. But they're a step in the right direction, providing open access to a learning experience that many find beneficial for furthering their education and careers.

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In the last three years, over 25 million people from around the world have enrolled in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by Coursera, EdX, and other platforms. Initially heralded as a revolution in higher education access, expectations have been tempered as research revealed that only a small percentage of these millions were completing the courses, approximately 80% already had at least a bachelor's degree, nearly 60% were employed full-time, and 60% came from developed countries (defined as members of the OECD).

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MOOC's are gaining popularity but there are many challenges they must still overcome. Some of these are:

Completion rate is lower than 10%

Participation drops in the 1st week.

Technical problem

Colleges are not given students credit

Lack of interaction

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MOOC's are great for flipped classrooms. It gives students lectures and reading which can be discussed in the classroom. One can also contact an MOOC professor and ask to have a private class for your students.

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Some colleges are not accepting MOOC as credits even if the courses are sponsored by credible institutes like MIT or Duke.

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One can have a private MOOC for students in K-12.

Students in flipped classroom will have interactions with classmates.

Classroom time can be focused on discussion or hands on projects.

Tuition free

Flexibility

This video shows how MOOC's can be used in flipped classrooms.

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MOOC & Flipped Classroom การประยุกต์ใช้งานสำหรับมหาวิทยาลัยรังสิต

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These are some of the cons students using MOOC in a flipped classroom can experience:

1. Students do not watch the videos.

2. No tool to take attendance.

3. Technical issues and students have different technology experience.

4. Students can loose interest.

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Courses are free which can be beneficial to K-12 students

Some schools have used MOOC for class credits.

Advance classes for students who need extra rigor.  (AP classes)

Students are able to experience online courses before they go to college.

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If 2012 was the year of the MOOC-massive open online course-then 2013 was the year the MOOC hype returned to Earth. Largely lost in the coverage in both years, however, was the impact MOOCs might have in high schools. Although the jury is still out on that question, high schools around the country are experimenting with adding MOOCs to their offerings.

MOOCs burst into the public consciousness in 2011 with the online debut of a Stanford professor's course on artificial intelligence that drew 160,000 students from around the globe. The professor, Sebastian Thrun, followed up the course by creating a company, Udacity, which offered free online courses to the world and spawned the formation of a new sector in education-the so-called MOOC companies. Most notably, MIT and Harvard joined forces to create a nonprofit MOOC provider, edX, and two other Stanford professors formed Coursera, which initially signed up several elite colleges to create free online courses. By the end of 2013, more than 5 million students had enrolled in Coursera courses, and the company had raised over $85 million in venture financing. (Disclosure: I cotaught a course on Coursera on blended learning for educators.)

National newspaper columnists wondered if this was the beginning of the disruption of higher education. If one could place MIT's courses online and offer them for nearly free, why should students pay exorbitant tuition and go into debt at a traditional college?

In 2013, people realized that the world might be more complicated. The low completion rates-often less than 10 percent-for MOOCs drew attention: some wondered if the courses the MOOC companies offered were relevant for the students who might benefit most from a low-cost college experience, and higher-education commentators asked whether students attending college were buying access to academic content or something else, like the credential or the network, that a college offers.

The MOOC companies have continued to evolve, meanwhile, as they seek to improve their offerings and create business models that are sustainable, which has meant finding ways to charge for their products. At the time of this writing, it appears that the MOOC companies will survive and have an impact by moving beyond simply offering MOOCs, although they will continue to provide free online college-level courses.

The next question is, Could the original form of the MOOC transform teaching and learning in high schools?

The original MOOC offerings are not much more than courseware, that is, digital versions of educational materials. They do not offer a full class experience, with a teacher dedicated to a contained group of students, but do offer more than just recorded lectures. MOOCs bundle various types of content-generally chunked-up lectures from college professors; assignments, quizzes, and some outside reading; and a discussion board, in which students-generally numbering in the thousands-and the teacher can interact.

The classes are in many ways similar to the online course content K-12 schools have had access to for more than a decade from companies like Apex Learning, Aventa Learning, Compass Learning, and Edgenuity, with a few significant differences, some positive and others negative.

First, on the positive side, in their most basic form, MOOCs are free. For cash-strapped public school systems, this is enticing. For schools, having access to the content from an online course for free instead of buying content from one of the established online course providers could represent real savings, as many online course providers charge schools well north of $100 per student for access to all or most of their courses.

The state of Florida gave schools that opportunity when Governor Rick Scott signed a law in 2013 permitting MOOCs to be taken for credit in any subject where the state had an end-of-course exam, such as algebra and biology. According to the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Pinellas counties are all experimenting with the MOOC format in the current school year, with an expectation that their pilots will expand across the state. Broward College is even working on a high school-friendly MOOC that integrates game-based learning techniques.

Entities like the Smithsonian Institution, according to Education Week, are also using the MOOC format to create partnerships with students and teachers around the world and deliver educational opportunities that previously required a field trip, including interactive experiences for students and trainings for teachers. Coursera is using its MOOCs to create professional-development opportunities for K-12 teachers. These efforts also create opportunities for districts to save substantial sums of money.

Second, access to MOOCs from top colleges represents an intriguing opportunity: the potential to disrupt Advanced Placement (AP) courses and tests. Several educators have questioned the quality of the AP courses and exams as they have become more widespread and democratized, and some colleges do not award credit for high marks on the AP exams. But what if a student could pass a physics course from MIT? Would that carry more weight from the perspective of a college than earning a top score of 5 on the AP Physics exam?

Undergirding the potential benefits of MOOCs in K-12 schools is an access and equity agenda: extending access to all students, regardless of zip code or SAT scores, to the "best" from the nation's education system. One superintendent of a large, urban school district said that low-income high-school students in his district were beginning to take MOOCs in greater numbers than students from more privileged backgrounds. His challenge was to figure out a way to give them credit for their work, but he thought surely colleges would look highly upon a résumé full of MOOCs taken and mastered. The opportunity to extend access for free to personalized, student-centered online offerings-the promise that generates hype around online learning-would be a boon.

The list of negatives begins here, however, and casts doubt on the potential of MOOCs to revolutionize high school. On average, MOOCs are not great educational experiences. They are not yet the beacons of personalized learning people hope they will one day be. Many MOOC providers have reinforced the notion of time-based learning and so far have missed the opportunity to advance competency-based learning. Many others have noted that MOOCs by themselves are only suited for students who are motivated, independent learners. Leaving aside low completion rates, the reasons for which are complicated, most MOOCs today have been built with far less attention to learning design than have courses from established K-12 online learning companies. Professors from elite colleges typically know little about pedagogy, even as they have expertise in their particular subject matter. As a result, the pedagogy behind most MOOCs is weak, and the MOOCs are not well suited for high school students.

This feeds into another negative, which is that the online content is not the most expensive part of offering an online course. Instead, as in all of K-12 education, the human resources-namely the teachers who interact with students-drive the costs. In Florida, the new law requires that Florida-certified teachers manage the MOOCs for the course providers. It is hard to imagine that to the extent MOOCs gain adoption in K-12 schools that they will do so without certified teachers playing a significant role. Perhaps MOOCs will offer schools far less savings or success than they might hope.

But if MOOCs can provide an avenue for gifted students to unlock opportunities that they would never otherwise have-through the disruption of AP courses and by offering unusual learning experiences-perhaps that would be impact enough. As Chester Finn and others have observed, far too many U.S. schools neglect their gifted students, with untold consequences.

If MOOCs could disrupt the AP system in the short term, then that could be just the foothold they need to have even more impact over the longer haul.
Michael B. Horn is cofounder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation and serves as the executive director of its education program.

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MOOCs for High School: Unlocking Opportunities or Substandard Learning

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If 2012 was the year of the MOOC-massive open online course-then 2013 was the year the MOOC hype returned to Earth. Largely lost in the coverage in both years, however, was the impact MOOCs might have in high schools. Although the jury is still out on that question, high schools around the country are experimenting with adding MOOCs to their offerings.

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Using MOOC for staff development can save school districts a lot of money. MOOC's are flexible which can fit into teachers busy schedules. It can also give teachers additional resources to use in the classroom.  Additional information can be found in the following website.

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While I am not a huge fan of MOOCs (see " MOOCs - The Opium of the Masses") I think that there is one area in which they might actually be extremely useful - ongoing teacher professional development (PD). They are a good fit to help meet a very specific need, which they could do quite well given teachers' experience with education.

There are several factors that make MOOCs a perfect option for ongoing teacher PD. First, they are free, and schools are so strapped for funding that free anything is quite possibly the only option in many cases. In most states teachers are required to add to their learning annually in order to maintain certification. MOOCs provide an easy way to continually find updated content. MOOCs are generally flexible enough in their scheduling to fit in with teacher's busy lives. Finally, the availability of the free content and resources found in some MOOCs could provide teachers with additional resources for teaching in their classrooms.

While this plan places the entire burden for PD on teachers, without consideration for release time, it does reflect the way that the system currently works and the lack of real value that we place on teachers' time and efforts. While that is unfair, it does reflect the reality in which we live and provides a real solution to an important problem.

The Need for Ongoing Teacher Professional Development
Teacher professional development represents a conundrum that perfectly encapsulates the systematic problem with education that we have as a society. We expect teachers to not only be well trained initially, but to also be responsible for continually renewing their knowledge and skills and developing new ones, with little to no institutional, financial, or societal support for the effort required to maintain their credentials. Teachers are expected to nearly continuously take classes or attend trainings that will enhance their ability to do their job, yet we never acknowledge the effort or take any solid measures to support it - little to no financial support and no releases time to do the work. But there is a real need for teachers to keep up with the rapid pace of educational innovations and technologies for learning, as well as changes in primary content areas. Two huge obstacles of cost and time stand like daunting sentinels between teachers and fulfilling their ongoing professional development needs. MOOCs could provide one possible solution to this problem. Here's how.

How MOOCs Can Help with Teacher Professional Development
Professional development for teachers is a necessary but time and resource consuming proposal that, when done poorly, can be essentially worthless, but when done well, can improve teaching, learning, and help prolong careers in a profession where burnout is a real issue. There are several ways in which MOOCs can actually provide an almost ideal medium for professional development.

Free - One of the key components of most current MOOC courses is that they are offered for free or at a nominal fee. Given the budgetary woes of our educational system, providing no or low-cost options for professional development is a dream come true for most administrators and schools boards.

Flexible - One of the most important features of online education is that it provides flexibility, both in time and location, for those participating in it. Nowhere is this more important than for teachers' continuing training. Most teachers work long days then spend much of their time away from school to plan and grade. This makes finding time for professional development a challenge for most. Summers are one option, as is the on-demand nature of MOOC-based learning.

Adaptable - Not only do MOOCs provide flexibility, in many cases, the content that they provide is also adaptable to different circumstances. edX and Coursera are two prime example of free content that is available to be modified and remixed in different ways to meet the specific needs of a particular audience. This feature allows those responsible for managing professional development for teachers to customize the experience for their audience.

Ongoing - Just like any kind of training or learning, the results don't stick in a one-shot situation. Learning needs to be reinforced over a long period of time and teachers need to have an opportunity to practice, implement, ask questions, try again, and integrate new skills and information on a schedule that works for them and allows them to remember the information. MOOCs, if designed with this strategy in mind, have enormous potential to meet this need. The on-demand, 24/7 nature of MOOCs also provides teachers with a medium for discussing and sharing their PD challenges and triumphs with others in the field.

Useful as a Classroom Resource - In addition to being adaptable to individual needs, MOOC content is often available for teachers to adapt to their own teaching. This is the case with the content from Coursera and edX so far, and more content should be available as the model grows.

Teachers can Teach Themselves - Who better to be a self-motivated, self-directed learner than someone trained to educate others. Teachers, in my opinion, fit the bill as the best possible matches for MOOCs, in that they understand how learning works, they are motivated to keep their professional credentials active, and they are qualified to adjust the content and the process to meet their needs.

These are all excellent reasons to think that MOOCs are a potentially valid avenue to help teachers with their professional development needs, but the problem remains, how does a teacher in need of some online, MOOC-based learning, find the right class?

How to Find Useful MOOCs for Teachers
The first step in finding useful content for continuing professional development is to look at sites like Coursera, edX, Udacity, and Udemy to see what they offer. Don't forget to look beyond courses specifically designed for teacher education or professional development, but also focus on subject area classes.
As an example, a search of the Coursera site for the key word "teaching" returned the following results:

Art and Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies for Your Classroom - Museum of Modern Art

Foundations of Teaching and Learning - Commonwealth Education Trust

First Year Teaching - Success from the Start - New Teacher Center

Foundations of Teaching and Learning: Introduction to Student Assessment - Commonwealth Education Trust

The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st Century Schools - Johns Hopkins University

Udacity, in contrast, offers many courses on specific topics that could be of use to a K-12 professional either for continuing development or to adapt for their own classroom use. For example:

Introduction to Statistics

Introduction to Physics

Introduction to Psychology

Udemy offers courses in a variety of areas useful to educators such as:

Additionally, Udemy offers an entire category of courses specifically for those in or interested in education. Many of them do, however, charge a nominal fee. With all of the offerings available from these mainstream providers, the problem is less finding something interesting and relevant and more finding out if teachers can get credit towards their required professional development needs.

Getting Credit for a MOOC
With 50 states, and countless school districts, it is impossible to say with certainty that any individual reading this will be able to receive credit for a given course. Please be sure to check with your district office before undertaking any online courses to meet required professional development goals. Despite that warning, there is a real possibility that even if a district or state does not currently accept a specific MOOC course, it might in the very near future.

The MOOCification of teacher professional development has begun in earnest, with Coursera recently announcing several courses specifically designed for teacher professional development. Right now Coursera offers 13 classes specifically designed for teacher continuing education. Many of those were mentioned above, such as "The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st Century Schools." One thing is certain, if one MOOC provider tries something and has any success, the others will not be far behind in providing similar offerings. So be on the lookout, and in the meantime, talk to those responsible for professional development in your district and start the process moving for getting MOOCs approved for you and your colleagues. Not only are you likely to learn something, you may also simplify the process of keeping your certification up-to-date.

Follow Justin on Google+ and Twitter.

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Why MOOCs are Good for Teacher Professional Development! - OnlineUniversities.com

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While I am not a huge fan of MOOCs (see "MOOCs - The Opium of the Masses") I think that there is one area in which they might actually be extremely useful - ongoing teacher professional development (PD). They are a good fit to help meet a very specific need, which they could do quite ...

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I personally like using an  MOOC. It is a great tool for online learners because:

It allows you to go at your own pace and in the comfort of your own house.

You can download the lecture script and jot down notes.

The quizzes and discussions are great tools to monitor your own progress.

Others can contribute to discussions and provide feedback on assignments.

It is FREE who doesn't love free?

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Aachen, R. (2015). Flipped classroom / MOOC. . Retrieved from http://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/Studium/Lehre/Blended-Learning/Formate/~hjlc/Flipped-Classroom-MOOC/?lidx=1

CIL RSU Official (2016, July 21). MOOC & flipped classroom 2016 Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NKVtRHVNEo

Horn, M. B. (2014, March 10). MOOCs for high school: Unlocking opportunities or substandard learning. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from Education Next, http://educationnext.org/moocs-high-school/

Steve Roth (2013, March 19). Massive open online courses (MOOC’s) Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEXOHXnQbuQ

Tim Rose (2015, November 27). What is a MOOC? Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21zA5kH76Dc

Tuncer, D., & Charalambides, M. (n.d.). Notes on experiences with MOOCs / flipped classroom. . Retrieved from http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~uceedst/report/aims16PanelReport.pdf

Who’s benefiting from MOOCs, and why. (2015, September 22). Retrieved February 18, 2017, from Education, https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why
Why MOOCs are good for teacher professional development! (2013, May 21). Retrieved February 19, 2017, from OnlineUniversities, http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2013/05/why-moocs-are-good-for-teacher-professional-development/