Battle Lines Drawn? cMOOCs and xMOOCs

In MOOCs’ relatively short five year history, two distinct types of MOOCs have developed, cMOOCs and xMOOCs.  While both types of MOOCs adhere to the concept of a massive open online course, the pedagogy and learning theory driving the course create a completely different learner experience.  George Seimens (2012), one of the developers of the connectivist theory from which the c in cMOOCs is derived, illustrates the core of this difference in the statement, “cMOOCs focus on knowledge creation and generation whereas xMOOCs focus on knowledge duplication.”

xMOOCs are the courses that have been getting much media buzz, including those offered from Coursera, Udacity, and EDx.  These courses are adapted from traditional college courses, relying on methods such as video lectures, quizzes, and tests to gauge learning (Siemens, 2012).  They are often taught by leaders in a field, and contained within a learning management system.  This format, with lack of collaboration and integration among students with one another and instructors, begets the overarching criticism of these courses, (Siemens, 2012;  Morris, 2012).  In contrast to the portrayal of xMOOCs as “drill and grill” instruction, Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller (2012), details a number of innovations in online learning actively being used at Coursera, including interactive videos which require learner participation, study groups, peer grading, and learner collaboration in a message board where questions were answered and help provided nearly any hour of the day due to the worldwide student base. 

While xMOOCs may be making strides in areas of collaboration, it is the underlying theory of learning that fundamentally separates them from cMOOCs.  The cMOOC model springs from the ideas of connectivism, that learning happens through connections.  They emphasize “creation, creativity, autonomy, and social networked learning,” (Siemens, 2012).  In these courses, there is much less of a power differential between instructor and learner, focusing on co-learning instead.  The learners engage with one another, often in real time through various social media.  The courses are not self contained within an LMS.  The concept of a cMOOC is brought to life in this video, albeit a little hard to understand, Visualizing a cMOOC.

 

While I am only beginning to participate in an xMOOC, I am intrigued by the concept of the cMOOC and the completely different approach to learning.  In the future I would like to explore a cMOOC course to compare and contrast the styles.  So far, two weeks into my Coursera course, I am finding the format of short videos and quizzes to be both interesting (where I have made enough meaning from my new knowledge to chatter about ideas to coworkers), and conducive to my schedule.  The “c” in the cMOOC actually scares me a little!  I have made one post on the Coursera message board and been inundated with updates and emails.  I’m not sure I am prepared to collaborate in real time with thousands of people.

References

Morris, S. M. (2012). Broadcast Education: A response to Coursera. Open Education. Retrieved from http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/Journal/files/Broadcast_Education.html

Siemens, G. (2012). MOOCs are really a platform. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2012/07/25/moocs-are-really-a-platform/

Koller, D. (2012, June). Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html