TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN LARGE-SCALE TEACHING: FIVE ROOTS OF MOOCS

What is it about?

The goals of this study were to identify technological innovations that can be considered historical milestones in large-scale teaching, to systematize experts’ opinions about the topic, and to propose strategies for the successful implementation of massive open online courses (MOOCs). The researchers identified and analyzed a documentary corpus and found that, in the use of technologies for large-scale teaching, there has been a parallel evolution that have led to the emergence of MOOCs and includes five roots: distance education and online learning; testing/teaching machines and computer-assisted instruction (CAI); learning management systems (LMS); open education (OE) and open educational resources (OER); and online massive teaching.

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Why is it important?

There are millions of people worldwide — of all ages, conditions, backgrounds and motivations — with significant learning needs. Unfortunately, traditional education is not efficient enough to meet these needs. That is, the available educational resources are not fully exploited to help cover the demand. There is an increasing need for large-scale access to cost-effective and high quality education. The use of technological innovations for large-scale teaching might be part of the solution.

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