MOOCs and Higher Education (eBook)

Volume Editors: Stephanie J. Blackmon, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of higher education at The College of William & Mary. Claire H. Major, Ph.D., is a professor of higher education at The University of Alabama. Series Editor-in-Chief: John F. Ryan is director of institutional research at University of Vermont.

EDITORS' NOTES 7
Stephanie J. Blackmon, Claire H. Major

1. Massive Open Online Courses: Variations on a New Instructional Form 11
Claire H. Major, Stephanie J. Blackmon
This chapter provides a detailed discussion of the term MOOC and offers a taxonomy on the ways to classify the new instructional form.

2. Massive Open Online Courses, Big Data, and Education Research 27
Sarah Eichhorn, Gary W. Matkin
The implications that MOOCs have on universities, "big data," and education research are addressed in this chapter.

3. Who Takes MOOCs? 41
Chris R. Glass, Mitsue S. Shiokawa-Baklan, Andrew J. Saltarelli
This chapter discusses the demographics and characteristics of MOOC learners, and also addresses the tensions associated with the present trends related to these learners.

4. Don't Forget the Fine Print: MOOCs and Student Privacy 57
Neal H. Hutchens, Azalea Hulbert
The rights of MOOC users, student privacy, and the connections, or lack thereof, between MOOCs and institutional missions are discussed in this chapter.

5. MOOCs and Persistence: Definitions and Predictors 69
Brent J. Evans, Rachel B. Baker
Alternative ways of understanding persistence in MOOCs and various research measures for results related to MOOCs are addressed in this chapter.

6. Through the MOOCing Glass: Professors' Perspectives on the Future of MOOCs in Higher Education 87
Stephanie J. Blackmon
The future of MOOCs from the perspectives of faculty members who teach/taught and developed MOOCs is discussed in this chapter.

INDEX 103