One of the perennial questions associated with online learning is how to prevent cheating. Not surprisingly, the rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has given new energy to the issue. While most MOOCs are currently taught and taken for personal development or a certificate of completion, there's a growing interest in offering them for credit or certification. I recently saw two news items that are approaching the issue of online cheating from opposite angles.
Coursera plans to expand their MOOC offerings beyond traditional university courses into continuing education courses for teachers, according to articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Huffington Post. These courses will be developed in partnership with universities and other organizations experienced in professional development of teachers.
The annual Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE has been released. The technologies highlighted in the report include MOOCs (Massively Open Online Courses), tablet computing, gaming, learning analytics, 3D printing, and wearable technology.
World Magazine includes a brief introduction to Massive Open Online Courses (aka MOOCs) in their Fall "School Choice" issue. They highlight the major MOOC platform providers, namely Coursera, edX, and Udacity, and also note that the issue of online learning was part of the recent dust-up at the University of Virginia.
