AN OVERVIEW OF MOOCS AND

BLENDED LEARNING:
INTEGRATING MOOC
TECHNOLOGIES INTO
TRADITIONAL CLASSES
Dr Ryan Thomas Williams

WHAT ARE MOOCS?

MOOCs began receiving significant media
coverage in 2012, coincident with the
widespread commitment by established
universities to providing free courses online.
These MOOCs distinguished themselves from
predecessors like MIT’s Open Courseware by
providing not only free content but a course-
like structure, synchronous participation,
periodic graded assessments, online discussion
forums, and, of greatest relevance for our
purposes, certification of completion.

LEARNER PROFILE
• Most of them are over 18 years students,
• The length of the course schedule changes between
5–12 weeks,
• Educational videos might be on a specific course or a
topic,
• The length of videos changes between 5–10 min,
• The language of most courses are in English,
• Due to the high number of participants and the
instructional approach (peer learning), the assessment of
participants is made through multiple choice tests, online
assessment tests and peer assessment.

BLENDED MOOCS
The blended MOOC course design has
characteris- tics and aspects which
differ from other course designs.
Learning in the blended MOOC can occur
in three main settings: on-campus, on
the MOOC platform or via a social
network.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, blended MOOCs offer a range of
advan- tages and disadvantages in higher
education. While they provide access to high-
quality materials, flexibility, and global
collaboration, concerns about scheduling, con- tent
relevance, and implementation challenges must be
considered. The effectiveness of blended MOOCs
ulti- mately depends on the quality of the MOOC
materials, the instructor’s ability to integrate them
effectively, and the support and resources
provided by educational insti- tutions.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/1

WILLIAMS, R. T. (2024). AN OVERVIEW OF 0.1080/09747338.2024.2303040
MOOCS AND BLENDED LEARNING:
INTEGRATING MOOC TECHNOLOGIES INTO
TRADITIONAL CLASSES. IETE JOURNAL OF
EDUCATION, 1-8.