New e-Literate TV Series on MOOCs

If 2013 was the year that MOOC mania peaked in the Gartner hype cycle, then surely 2014 is the year in which they have entered the trough of disillusionment. And just as it was important last year to push back on the inflated expectations, it will be equally important this year to make sure we don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.

With that in mind, I’m pleased to announce our new e-Literate TV series, “Massive and Open: What Are We Learning?” Filmed at the 2013 MOOC Research Initiative (MRI) conference, it delves into the current state of knowledge of the field. The interview with Stanford’s Amy Collier from our pilot series should really be considered Episode Zero for the series, as it explores the value of the first generation of MOOCs (particularly xMOOCs). To that, we have added three episodes from the new series:

1. MOOC Research Initiative Grant Projects: After a brief introduction with MRI lead researcher George Siemens, Phil and I talk to a number of the grantees about the research they are undertaking. The range of research questions is eye-opening.
2. MOOC Point/Counterpoint: We intercut interviews between MOOC enthusiast Keith Devlin and MOOC skeptic Jonathan Rees. The result is a rich and nuanced dialog between these two smart guys.
3. Crowdsourced Answers to Popular MOOC Questions: We got MRI conference attendees to give their answers to frequently asked MOOC questions. The answers are varied and give a good sense of just how much our thinking about MOOCs is still all over the place.

Enjoy!