In her post, A Rectangle is Not a Square, Melissa Koenig describes some of the differences between what most universities consider online courses and the newer model of MOOCs (massive open online courses). While I know it’s important to understand these differences when looking at the big picture of online education today, I’m also curious about the similarities. What can those of us developing and teaching online courses learn from MOOC design and delivery?

To get an inside look I enrolled in Model Thinking, offered on the Coursera platform. I almost couldn’t believe how easy it was to sign up and jump right into a University of Michigan course from my living room. As a course designer it is always a treat to peek into other institutions’ online courses. Typically you have to go to conference presentations to do this; I only had to provide a username and password. Imagine the shared learning that can take place when online course designers and instructors have such open access to one another’s materials. Of course there are intellectual-property and financial considerations, but ignoring these for a moment, it’s an opportunity to build on the success and innovation of others. Continue reading →