Today I would like to announce a Virtual School massive online open course (MOOC) entitled Introduction to K-12 Online Learning Research to be held from 10 September-07 October 2012. This MOOC will be designed to provide a broad overview of the field of K-12 online learning, specifically what is currently known based on the research that has been conducted in the field.
You can access the initial site for the Virtual School MOOC at:
The MOOC will be managed by a variety of scholars in the field of K-12 online learning in an asynchronous fashion covering eight different topics over a over four week period.
- MOOC Introduction and Classifying K-12 Online Learning
- History of K-12 Online Learning
- Overview of Research into K-12 Online Learning
- Design of K-12 Online Learning
- Teaching of K-12 Online Learning
- Facilitation of K-12 Online Learning
- K-12 Online Learning from an International Perspective
- Concluding the K-12 Online Learning Research MOOC
Each of the MOOC topics will provide participants with one of more open access readings, asynchronous static content created by the scholar leading that particular topic, and one or more videos from that same scholar. These resources are the starting point for participants to explore the research on K-12 online learning on each of these topic. There will also be some kind of activity for participants to complete and post to their own blogs, and for some topics an additional specific discussion prompt for participants to consider. This MOOC does not include traditional assignments. Rather, the MOOC includes challenges. When you complete a challenge successfully, you a receive a badge.
If you are interested in participating in this MOOC, I would encourage you to visit http://virtualschoolmooc.wikispaces.com/participants and sign up.