{"id":58,"date":"2013-10-16T20:36:35","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T20:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mrmclaughlin.com\/web\/?p=58"},"modified":"2022-11-21T20:59:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T20:59:26","slug":"leveraging-a-mooc-10-16-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrmclaughlin.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/16\/leveraging-a-mooc-10-16-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Leveraging A MOOC 10\/16\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a MOOC? (see video below) It is a Massive Open Online Course. \u00a0Most times it is completely free. \u00a0Carnegie Mellon<\/a>\u00a0offers \u201cNo instructors, no credits, no charge.\u201d\u00a0Forty public universities will offer free online courses with full credit starting spring 201<\/a>3.\u00a0 \u00a0Why would a school do that well in an effort to entice potential students to sign up for a full degree program. \u00a0But for high school students this could be a win fall. \u00a0Imagine students taking college level course for credit instead of a study hall. \u00a0There is even one set up with a residential plan\u00a0http:\/\/mooccampus.org<\/a>\/ \u00a0Students can take MOOC course and live in on a college campus for about $12,000 a year.<\/p>\n

I am currently using a MOOC to teach AP Computer Science. \u00a0I come from a small school district and often filling a class like AP Computer Science is difficult. \u00a0I have 6 students this year in AP Computer Science which is way below the threshold to run a class. \u00a0I feel strongly about students coding so I offered to teach it in the same class period as my Web Design class. \u00a0The Web Design Class has a lot of project time so I thought I could alternate days and make it work. \u00a0Fortunately I did not have too. \u00a0I found the MOOC at\u00a0amplify.com<\/a>\u00a0This is a free AP Computer Science course taught by a live teacher with live support. \u00a0I have my students on computers during class time while I am teaching my Web Design Class. \u00a0I check in on their status using the dashboard provided by \u00a0Amplify.<\/p>\n

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In this dashboard I can see an overview of the entire class and see a calendar of where we are and what is coming up next. \u00a0I can also see a quick look at how my students are doing compared to the rest of the students in the course. \u00a0I can click on the name of any student and see exactly what they have accomplished. \u00a0The students post questions they have about the content in the MOOC forum where the amplify staff respond within hours. \u00a0Amplify also provides class resources to be used in parallel with the course. \u00a0These are PDF handouts that I can use in my class room to supplement what the students are learning online. My students have mixed feeling about it as Amplify is still working out some of the bugs. \u00a0I have found them to be very responsive to any suggestions. \u00a0There is also a forum for us Coaches to work in to help our students. \u00a0We can post questions we have about the content and how best to help our students. \u00a0The answers are posted there for us which is very helpful as not all the coaches know Java. \u00a0If you would like your students to sign up it is not too late. \u00a0Once the content has posted each week it stays posted. \u00a0A student can jump in at any time. \u00a0I have one student who is doing this completely on his own and just plans to take the AP test in the spring. \u00a0If you would like help setting up a local MOOC for Amplify in your school or you would like to join my class to learn Java leave a comment.<\/p>\n

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