Nearly 80,000 people from near and far will participate in one of four pilot Massive Open Online Courses Thursday, according to a university news release.
A MOOC is an online course that uses multimedia presentations, videos, quizzes and online discussions to facilitate a college course that anyone in any part of the world can take. The university announced a partnership with Coursera, which is a MOOC provider, in February
MOOCs are free, but the university does not offer credit for them, according to the release, and the number of participants is unlimited.
“We are excited to offer students from around the world the opportunity to learn from some of our very best instructors,” Provost Paul DeLuca Jr. said in the release.
Constance Steinkuehler, an associate professor of digital media in the School of Education, and Department of Curriculum and Instruction Professor Kurt Squire are teaching the first MOOC, which is about the thinking and learning processes involved in playing video games and gaming culture, according to the release.
More than 30,000 people have signed up for “Video Games and Learning,” which will run for six weeks, according to the release.
“We think of MOOCs as a resource in line with the Wisconsin Idea,” Steinkuehler said in the release. “This is something that complements and supplements existing coursework and material.”
Randall Wright, the Ray Zemon Professor of Liquid Assets in the Wisconsin School of Business and Economics Department professor, teaches a MOOC called “Markets with Frictions” that begins Oct. 30.
The other two MOOCs, which cover human evolution and the globalization of higher education, will begin this spring.
