#introphil Philosophy MOOC – First Impressions

I’ve now started the Edinburgh University Introduction to Philosophy MOOC. I’ve never studied philosophy before, not even any humanities type of subject since I was at school (many years ago) so it’s all very new to me and I’m uncertain how to proceed. In a science subject I’d probably start by reading a text book and doing some examples to see whether I had a proper understanding. Not so philosophy – even the meaning of ‘proper understanding’ is a philosophical question!

Anyway, here’s my first quick impressions of this MOOC. Activity this week centres on 5 short videos given by Dave Ward on what Philosophy is and an assessment of some common claims made about Philosophy and its subject matter. Ideas that philosophy is about fundamental and important questions are examined followed by a case study on The Meaning of Life (no answers given). I found the videos well-presented and just about the right introductory level for a beginner like me. I’ve been put off in the past by introductions to philosophy that start with ancient philosophy so I was pleased to hear about philosophy as a topic in itself and as a process with a few references to modern philosophers thrown in for good measure.

Although philosopher Jeremy Bentham died in 1832 he can still be seen at University College, London !

With around 90,000 participants the forums are roaring! Connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs) may sometimes be chaotic and confused but this xMOOC takes the ticket! All sorts of groups are forming on the basis of language, age, location etc and every question under the sun is being discussed simultaneously – philosophically or otherwise. There are several official ‘instructors’ around who try to be helpful as well as quite a few knowledgeable participants. I’m in no position to judge the quality of learning and it’s very early days but certainly many people are having a whale of a time engaging in this massive forum. You might expect some intolerance or bad humour with discussions ranging far and wide through politics and religion but I see little evidence of this so far.

Transcripts of the videos are available so I’ve been downloading these and using them as a basis for my own notes. Here’s my very brief summary for the first video. These are really meant as ‘notes to myself’ – a bald summary of what’s been said without personal views or comments.

What is Philosophy?

• just whatever philosophers do.
• etymologically: the love of knowledge from the Greek, ‘philosophia’ – Meaning? – will any kind of wisdom or knowledge do or does it have to be wisdom or knowledge about specific topics?
• Google ‘what is philosophy’.
• Wilfrid Sellars (famous 20th century American philosopher): ‘The aim of philosophy, abstractly formulated, is to try and understand how things, in the broadest possible sense of the term, hang together, in the broadest possible sense of the term.’
• Epicurus: ‘Philosophy is an activity that uses reasoning and rigorous argument to promote human flourishing.’
• Barry Stroud (Scottish philosopher):’Philosophy is just thinking clearly and well about reality and our place in it.’
• Another suggestion involves the attempt to think systematically about the presuppositions of some given topic.
• Philosophy is the activity of working out the right way of thinking about things.

Philosophy itself is a philosophical question.

Disagreement and resolution is really important – whether or not you want to change your mind
about anything previously believed or want to try and change another mind about something important.

Need to question consistency – do all the points made make sense together? Can they all be true at the same time?

In all above, does anything said about Philosophy seems wrong or not make sense?
Has some important aspect of what Philosophy been omitted – if so how to convince?

Image credit: MykReeve at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Why can’t an xMOOC be more like a cMOOC ?

I’ve joined the Edinburgh University Introduction to Philosophy Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This is an ‘xMOOC’, a term used to describe the ‘instructivist’ MOOCs that are usually given by existing colleges and universities from platforms such as Coursera, Udacity and Futurelearn.  However, I would like to see xMOOCs become more learner centred and open like the earlier Connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs) . Evidently some 260,000 people are now signed up for the Philosophy MOOC so I’ll be looking for more than a few independent souls ready to discuss the content and performance of this xMOOC  in a cMOOC style by blogging outside the ‘official’ course forums. (See Liberating the xMOOC – a Philosophical Experiment. Searching is helped if the tag, introphil appears somewhere in a post.) Anyone unfamiliar with cMOOC ideas should look at the classic 2010 video by Dave Cormier made long before xMOOCs were even a twinkle in the eye of the venture capitalists. Here, ‘MOOC’ means ‘cMOOC’ in today’s parlance. (Don’t miss the wry exchange on YouTube between Dave Cormier and a commenter on the meaning of ‘MOOC’!)

cMOOCs are very peculiar beasts (Based on ‘la vaca de los sinvaca‘ by José Bogado)

cMOOCs are very peculiar beasts. I was first thrown by one in 2011 (CCK11) when it dawned on me that, contrary to what was on the tin, a cMOOC wasn’t a ‘course’ at all. Instead, a heady amalgam of ‘massive’, ‘open’ and ‘online’ was leading to a quite extraordinary place where the normal rules of learning engagement just didn’t apply. There were a couple of facilitators but no teachers. Participants were encouraged to create and maintain their own blogs. Social media was used for discussion and sharing resources. Topics were explored together, connections made and groups were formed and maintained long after the MOOC was over. cMOOCs never die – I still check out the CCK11 page on Facebook.

Why don’t xMOOCs explore the brave new paths followed by the earlier cMOOCs? Some participants join a MOOC with the express purpose of passing an exam and gaining credit of some sort. Nothing wrong with that of course and cMOOCs have included small numbers of students aiming at formal certification. Passing examinations though is not the primary purpose of education and the obsession with exams evident in the xMOOCs strikes me as unhealthy. MOOC participants have diverse learning objectives in comparison with students taking the traditional university or college courses that current xMOOCs appear to be based on. Typically, a traditional course is aimed at a small bunch of carefully-selected, exam-orientated students of about the same age and educational background who turn up at set times to hear a professor pontificate. Why adopt such a narrow, timid little beast as a standard when MOOCs, given adequate investment in planning and infrastructure, have at least the potential to be as broad in purpose and scope as anyone could wish for? A really mature MOOC could have a traditional course for breakfast!

Dropouts Rule! – OK ?

Now consider those who have actually participated in MOOCs. Most do not belong to the tiny minority of eager beavers who have the time and opportunity to study regularly, meet all the deadlines and pass a final examination with flying colours. The overwhelming majority of participants are the so-called dropouts. What does it really mean to be a MOOC dropout? Does it mean:

• leaving happily after a week or two because you’ve already found the content and connections you came looking for in the first place?
• leaving sadly after making reasonable progress but not sitting the final exam because you find multiple choice tests demotivating and couldn’t get help – or perhaps your English just wasn’t up to the job?
• making exceptional progress, gladly engaging with and assisting other participants but then being brought to a grinding halt by ‘real life’ – loss of internet connectivity, unexpected work commitments, having a baby?
• becoming bored and losing interest because you’re only 13 and without the right background but persevering long enough to make sense of a few technical terms and maybe launch a lifelong interest?
• just looking in to check all the buzz about MOOCs and then  joining a different MOOC later on for more serious study?

There’s at least anecdotal evidence for all these ‘dropout’ scenarios and others where at least some educational benefit is to be gained. It may be very difficult to pinpoint or quantify but it should not be overlooked!

Etmooc Comment Scraper Output (continued)

Here is the latest output via 143 WordPress blogs with designated Etmooc posts. (See previous post for the Blogger ones.) Again, I will keep updating if it proves useful.
Notes: Including {image}, {link} etc not very useful? Delete?

Updates Ended

As this is a WordPress blog I should have realised that publishing links to other WordPress blogs here generates pingbacks and maybe scores of email alerts. There seems to be no way I can prevent this (?) – my apologies for the nusiance! I could set up webspace elsewhere but now I need to concentrate on the Introduction to Philosophy MOOC (#introphil) starting on Monday 28th Jan. I won’t publish any more Comment Scraper updates here but provided nobody objects I’d like to leave the ouput below as an excellent (but static) example of vibrant activity in a cMOOC network of independent bloggers. Thanks for your patience ETMOOCers!

For reference: Etmooc is a Massive Open Online Course in Educational Technology and Media

MOOC Scraper Output on Fri Jan 25 2013 at 12:08 GMT

180 comments from 40 posts (2013-01-17 to 2013-01-25):

25 Jan: ‘The sense of self, how a MOOC can make or undermine you’ by wiltwhatman
I’ve been blogging about the difficulties of Connectivist MOOCing, and about the plu…
Reblogged this on {link} #etmooc and me /a and commented: After disc…(Valerie Lopes,25 Jan)
Thanks Valerie, the tweetchat conversation was key for this post. That said, …(wiltwhatman,25 Jan)

24 Jan: ‘A Culture of Share’ by Mary B.
Yesterdays Blackboard Collaborate #etmooc session “Sharing is Accountability” …
Yes, “over sharing” is something I’m just getting into balance. Fbook, Twi…(tjthiessen,24 Jan)
You speak the truth when you say that living in a bubble can lead to isolation and …(Melanie,24 Jan)
Hi Mary, these thoughts are very similar to some of the thoughts I had myself af…(maireadcan,24 Jan)
I’ve not reviewed the meeting yet but your post encourages me to dig int…(John Johnston,24 Jan)
Hi John, Balance is definitely key and we all need to learn what our balance is an…(Mary B.,24 Jan)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! We just have to keep learning and sharing!…(Mary B.,24 Jan)
Hi Melanie, Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I think as a new teacher one…(Mary B.,24 Jan)
I enjoyed reading your thoughts on sharing. Being new to connectivist le…(alisonsreflections,25 Jan)
Hi Alison, Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I am too am starting with the MO…(Mary B.,25 Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Swimming in a Sea of Tweets With #etmooc #etmchat’ by tjthiessen
Not ten minutes ago, I disengaged my fully immersed brain from the sea of #etmchat posting…
My goodness, swimming definitely is a great analogy for how I felt in my first Twitter…(Kara,24 Jan)
Great post. Don’t worry about feeling overwhelmed in the Twitter chat last nig…(Mary B.,24 Jan)
I’m hoping I will feel more comfortable next week too. I do want to check o…(tjthiessen,25 Jan)
Thanks for the encouragement!…(tjthiessen,25 Jan)
Isn’t using twitter an amazing way to achieve professional development!?! …(MrBridge204,25 Jan)
You’re lucky you can swim and seem to know all high-…(Maria Shine Stewart (@mariashine),25 Jan)
Definitely. I’m still not used to the speed of a chat though!…(tjthiessen,25 Jan)
Read your most recent post. Definitely resonated with me….(tjthiessen,25 Jan)
I hear what you’re saying! It can be totally overwhelming. Love your swi…(Brent Schmidt,25 Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Running the Risk of Over Connecting: How Much is too Much?’ by heatherenzie
As this #etmooc community of practice continues to unfold, I begin to see the need for str…
It’s not necessarily about picking PLN’ers that purposely post the bes…(Sue Waters,24 Jan)
I find a comfort in following those I know… but need to learn to stretch my win…(erinluong,24 Jan)
@Erin Twitter changes as the number of people you follow changes. When you foll…(Sue Waters,25 Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Setting my thoughts free’ by Valerie Lopes
I have been doing a lot of thinking about how to make my learning visible….how do I …
Makes complete sense to me. Your free thoughts would look exactly like this. A…(Sue Waters,24 Jan)
Sue – how wonderful you are! I have not been able to join any of the live se…(Valerie Lopes,25 Jan)

24 Jan: ‘#etmooc Living (and designing) with Constraints’ by urbie delgado
I read @jkunrein’s Building a Seat at the Table for Design ASTD blog. She makes a som…
Constraints. Everyone has them:) Without constraints, we don’t really need desig…(Steve,24 Jan)
Yep. No one wants to be stuck in a rut. At this bank out West I used to work …(urbie delgado,24 Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Information Overload!’ by Kara
Last night, I participated in my first ever Twitter chat. My opinion: it was…..to be…
I feel you! But stick with the Twitter chats. They are great way to connect. Fin…(Sue Dunlop,24 Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Commenting on blogs’ by maireadcan
Today was my first day back in school after my snow day and my etmooc introduction to blog…
Comments make you feel like you have a real audience. And then there is the…(Susan van Geler,24 Jan)
So So true. The comments really help us and motivate us! No matter what a…(Sherry Hegstrom,24 Jan)
Thanks Sherry, that’s a great document with some ideas I can definitely put…(maireadcan,24 Jan)
Thank you so much Susan that blog is full of good advice – just what I need at t…(maireadcan,24 Jan)
You’re right. There’s nothing better than receiving confirmation that pe…(joedalio,24 Jan)

23 Jan: ‘#etmooc Week 2: Connected Learning’ by Kara
I would like to start this post by thanking the anonymous person who finally allowed me to…
I too have contemplated “flipping” my classroom. I teach in a high poverty area…(Jess Henze,23 Jan)
Hi Kara I am very fortunate to teach in a very well resourced school in Cardiff,…(maireadcan,24 Jan)
Even with everything against me, I still have a classroom Facebook page, Wiki, and Twi…(Kara,24 Jan)

23 Jan: ‘Sharing is an obligation, an ethical responsibility’ by Jess Henze
In the words of Dean Shareski, this is a HUGE take away from this evenings #etmooc session…
It is challenging being so hooked isn’t it, especially when you are surrounded by…(Mary,23 Jan)
Hi Jess I don’t believe there is a IFTTT for favorite tweets to Diigo. I…(Sue Waters,23 Jan)

23 Jan: ‘Snow day Blogging and sharing’ by maireadcan
Today was a snow day in Wales which gave me plenty of time to catch up on the etmooc sessi…
Hi Maireadcan (i trust this is your name) very beautiful picture on your blog. …(Jaap Bosman,23 Jan)
Hi Jaap My name is Mairead and Can is the first part of my second name. I suspec…(maireadcan,23 Jan)
Hi Mairead. I know what you mean about sharing sometimes being unappreciated or unreci…(Mary,24 Jan)
I understand about the resistant co-workers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of teac…(Jeanne,24 Jan)
Okay, I am confused. I thought that you lived and worked in Ireland? This is …(lsniestrath,24 Jan)
Hi Mairead Glad my session on Intro to Blogging did help! I spent a lot of ti…(Sue Waters,24 Jan)
Hi Mary I have heard of quadblogging over the last few weeks on twitter and I am…(maireadcan,24 Jan)
Hi Mairead, I too realised that I haven’t been practicing what I preach this …(Mary B.,24 Jan)
Thanks Sue it was more than helpful and I’ll try to watch the second sessio…(maireadcan,24 Jan)
Sorry Laurie I’m sure it’s my fault that you are confused as I started…(maireadcan,24 Jan)
Hi Mary Yes we shall resolve that and I think it will be a very worthwhile lea…(maireadcan,24 Jan)

23 Jan: ‘Enlightened and Energized by #etmooc’ by Thomas Joseph Okon
Now this is Online Learning! I can tell, because my brain is exploding! I took part in my …
Thomas, I couldn’t agree more..my brain feels like it is exploding too. In…(lindapemik,24 Jan)
Hi Linda, thanks for your comments. I think your right about this mooc p…(Thomas Joseph Okon,24 Jan)

22 Jan: ‘One Small Step For An Expert, One Giant Leap For A Novice’ by rickseaman
Maybe this is a better title for the #etmooc experience? I enjoyed listening to Alec durin…
I wonder those things too, Rick….(Valerie lopes,23 Jan)

22 Jan: ‘How Do You Make Your Learning Visible? #etmooc’ by Activate Learning Solutions
I recently completed the Professional Learning Portfolio workshop through the Social Learn…
This was an excellent post. I have been thinking and mulling over the conce…(Debbie Morrison,22 Jan)
Thanks Debbie, much appreciated. It’s been a work in progr…(Activate Learning Solutions,22 Jan)
Yes, the idea of change can be a barrier to even the best ideas. But as you…(Debbie Morrison,22 Jan)
Perseverance….if I had a dollar every time…. Still, slowl…(Activate Learning Solutions,22 Jan)
Ha-ha! One covert at a time! :)…(Debbie Morrison,23 Jan)

22 Jan: ‘Blogging About Blogging’ by alisonsreflections
After tonight’s session, “Intro to Blogging” I feel much less intimidated and learned a gr…
Glad my session on blogging helped you! Most people are more intimidated by l…(Sue Waters,22 Jan)
Thanks for your supportive words Sue. I am glad to know that I am not al…(alisonsreflections,22 Jan)
You did take a big step replying back! Well done! Always happy to support. Ye…(Sue Waters,22 Jan)

22 Jan: ‘An #ETMOOC Introduction’ by folynick
A number of recent #etmooc posts and tweets have encouraged me to take a leap of faith and…
Great and happy to have you here! Lets connect and learn :)…(francouchman,22 Jan)
Thank you so much for viewing my blog! I look forward to connecting and learning. …(folynick,22 Jan)
What a great page and introduction video!…(Janna,22 Jan)
So great to see your page! Of course it is time to make it publ…(Dianne Smith (@dsmithnorth),22 Jan)
Thanks! You are the star in the video. :)…(folynick,22 Jan)
Haha, thanks Dianne! I am just trying to catch up to all the amazing things you do…(folynick,22 Jan)
Hi Fenella. So glad to have met you “Mooc-ing” your way through your very creativ…(Sisqitman,24 Jan)
Hello Glenn. Thank you for your kind comments about my #ETMOOC introduction. I cer…(folynick,25 Jan)

22 Jan: ‘My #etmooc introduction’ by catherinecronin
As with most MOOCs, the first week of #etmooc was a whirlwind of navigating new spaces, co…
I really enjoyed your Popcorn Maker presentation. It gave me a good sens…(Margaret A. Powers,22 Jan)
Popcornmaker was great, I loved your photos and simple presentation of ideas. We nee…(Angela,22 Jan)
Thanks, Margaret! It was enjoyable (& yes, challenging) to learn a new …(catherinecronin,22 Jan)
Thanks for the quick reply, Angela. Yes, I agree — simple and clear wins t…(catherinecronin,22 Jan)
It is amazing the wealth of tools at our disposal. I’ve also been wanting to t…(techkim,24 Jan)
Great point, Kim. I sympathize with that feeling of *overwhelm*, as I think…(catherinecronin,24 Jan)

22 Jan: ‘Hoarding, curating and sharing’ by bettyannx
Someone described themselves as a “hoarder” of information online in an earlie…
I too fall somewhere along the sliding scale of hoarding to sharing. The shame …(Karen Young,22 Jan)
I really connected with you when I read about your concern to reach” teachers wh…(lindapemik,22 Jan)
I also read the post on digital hoarding and can’t remember who wrote it :(…(Sue Waters,22 Jan)
Glad you liked the mindmap :). I envy you though, and everybody else, who posts to…(debseed,22 Jan)
I am also keen to share good practice with colleagues. I have set up an elearning …(debseed,22 Jan)
Maybe this will help you Deb to know I get bloggers block? Sometimes the words …(Sue Waters,23 Jan)
I’ve come to believe in a few principles with regards to sharing and curation. Not…(Al Smith,23 Jan)
After I settled in that I blog for me, it got easier. I find doodling and notes on…(Al Smith,23 Jan)
Yes, I found that perspective freed me to just write. I started out thinking I h…(bettyannx,23 Jan)

22 Jan: ” by Jess Henze
After having ended the Connected Learning BB Collaborate session on a seemingly excited no…
Hi Jess I’ve been a multitasker for years and I can’t keep up with th…(Sue Waters,22 Jan)
Hi Sue! Thanks for stopping by! It is funny that you mentioned IFTTT, because …(Jess Henze,22 Jan)
Hi Jess You may find some of them prepare their resources. I read a Twitter po…(Sue Waters,22 Jan)

22 Jan: ‘#ACSATech and #ETMOOC Week 1 Reflections’ by mpalmerston
It’s been a week since expanding my #edtech learning to include both the blended lea…
Great reflection Mark! I think your learning preferences can change as how you …(Sue Waters,22 Jan)
Sue, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I think level of engagem…(mpalmerston,23 Jan)

21 Jan: ‘2013 – An African making sense of signals and noise in higher and distance education (#etmooc)’ by opendistanceteachingandlearning
Disclaimer: I write this overview of some of the challenges facing higher and distance edu…
Bravo Paul on an exceptionally courageous blog. What hit me was the following s…(Pamela Ryan,21 Jan)
Great blog to kick off ‘new’ thinking in the New Year (not to denigrate &#0…(Shana,21 Jan)
I should add that I have taught online the past 4 years and after a surge in online e…(Shana,21 Jan)
Final comment on the participation of African scholars in ‘international’ c…(Shana,21 Jan)
Thanks Pam – I don’t know why it was so difficult to w…(opendistanceteachingandlearning,22 Jan)
Hi Shana – good points. Unisa has taken a leap of faith to …(opendistanceteachingandlearning,22 Jan)
Shana, thanks for the support on this one! I think there is…(opendistanceteachingandlearning,22 Jan)

21 Jan: ‘#etmooc Connected Overload? It’s like a World’s Fair’ by Al Smith
So we are full swing into ETMOOC. JAN 21 week and I’ve observed a few posts concerne…
Reblogged this on {link} LiterateOwl /a and commented: Reblog: from…(KSS Library,22 Jan)
I always over indulge at the fair….what a wonderful analogy!…(Karen Young,24 Jan)
Thank you for sharing, in your words, exactly what I am feeling. I will …(alisonsreflections,25 Jan)

21 Jan: ‘Making my learning visible’ by Jess Henze
Just finished watching the Orientation and Welcome recorded session on Blackboard Collabor…
Well, you are way ahead of me. I’ve not yet used Google Docs, nor do …(Lorraine Boulos,21 Jan)
Lorraine- You have the perfect mind-set! If you let too many things take hold …(Jess Henze,21 Jan)
Hi Jess – really like your blog background! Thanks for sharing your thought…(Trish McCluskey,22 Jan)
Hi Trish! – The blog background stuck out to me. It reminds me that I’m be…(Jess Henze,22 Jan)

21 Jan: ‘REFLECTIONS DON”T GIVE UP and other lessons from #ETMOOC’ by sspellmancann
Why am I blogging? What difference will it make? Should I be overly concerned about sharin…
Hi Susan, reading your blog reminded me of some of my own reflections when I fi…(lindapemik,21 Jan)
Hi Susan. I love the fact that your wordle came out as a foot and the way you have int…(Mary,21 Jan)
Love your reflections…. especially writing in word first……(erinluong,21 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘And real life gets in the way
but learning turns to laughing’ by eportfoliolisad
Every waking minute seemed to be filled with thoughts of ETMOOC earlier this week and then…
Fitting in time to attend all the sessions can be challenging, and even if you d…(Sue Waters,20 Jan)
Thanks Sue…I had read the post to catch up and will hopefully attend the …(eportfoliolisad,21 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘Hi #etmooc participants!’ by profedonnashelton
My VoiceThread  introduction:  Hi #etmooc! VoiceThreads can’t be embedded in free Wo…
WordPress.com doesn’t allow any embed on any of their blogs, regardless of …(Sue Waters,20 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘Bits n’ Bytes – Putting the Pieces Together in #ETMOOC’ by Sisqitman
I love doing jigsaw puzzles. I remember as a kid doing them with my grandfather and having…
I like your puzzle analogy, but I think of this #etmooc experience…(Paula Naugle (@plnaugle),20 Jan)
Nice metaphor Glenn! When you start a 1000 piece puzzle it looks daunting an…(Carolyn Durley,20 Jan)
Betty, I’m pretty Type A in my technology life and stepping back is taking w…(Sisqitman,20 Jan)
My participation in ETMOOC this week has brought up for me some issues in my prof…(Sisqitman,20 Jan)
Hi Paula. Thanks for sharing the cooking analogy. My wife and I watch “Chopped” a…(Sisqitman,20 Jan)
Hi Carolyn. I feel that way in my job as a tech. coordinator at times and recogni…(Sisqitman,20 Jan)
I like what you said about seeing ourselves as one of the puzzle pieces of th…(sspellmancann,21 Jan)
Hi Susan. I’m glad you’re one of the 1600. I’ve enjoyed reading yo…(Sisqitman,23 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘Some things I think I might have learned so far’ by wiltwhatman
User freedom can be a curse. Guide your novices, and set your experts free. Sometimes less…
Thanks for clarifying some of what I’m feeling about the novice/expert divi…(Nobleknits,20 Jan)
Keith, you’re certainly tapped into essential issues for newbies in the MOO…(carlaarena,20 Jan)
Hi Carla, I’m planning to stick with it, and I can see my way to the bene…(wiltwhatman,20 Jan)
Keith, I totally see your point, and I think it is an invaluable contribution fo…(carlaarena,20 Jan)
Thanks Noble. The divide is both an opportunity and a challenge, but maybe a c…(wiltwhatman,20 Jan)
Hey Keith…great post (as always!) Totally strikes a chord with me as I si…(eportfoliolisad,20 Jan)
Hi Carla, I think I’ll have too much on to be an active participant, but …(wiltwhatman,20 Jan)
Hi Lisa, thanks. I agree…Alec, the volunteers and mods are doing great work….(wiltwhatman,20 Jan)
D.I. (differentiated instruction) is expected to be a standard part of every tea…(lisamnoble,21 Jan)
Hi Lisa, same here – we teach to multiple challenge levels, and to multiple st…(wiltwhatman,21 Jan)
We have a similar interest. My research interests are the use of problem ba…(judithamesbury,24 Jan)
Hi Judith, thanks for the thoughtful and considered comment. And yes, we do ha…(wiltwhatman,24 Jan)
I’m in! I will read all of your posts and post myself at journeythroug…(judithamesbury,24 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘Introducing ETMOOC trust exercises – falling in the right direction?’ by rootmistress
As in any ‘class’ ETMOOC has asked us to introduce ourselves to our peers in t…
First, welcome! And thanks very much for this critical post. Re: should we be …(Alec Couros,21 Jan)
Hi Alec, Thanks for the comment:) And glad you thought it was useful – after …(rootmistress,21 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘Tools for multimedia online introductions – #etmooc video’ by rootmistress
This week we were asked to introduce ourselves online to the co-participants in #etmooc. T…
Very useful! Appreciate the tutorial and review of tools….(profedonnashelton,20 Jan)
Glad you think so!…(rootmistress,20 Jan)
Thanks for the post. I teach an Integrating Technology and Literacy co…(JudyArzt (@JudyArzt),20 Jan)
Hi Judy, Good to hear that my initial thoughts on how easy and attractive Anim…(rootmistress,21 Jan)
Obviously I meant to say – if you can share the resources that would be very h…(rootmistress,21 Jan)
If you sign up for an Educators account, you’re automatically upgraded to a…(buistbunch,21 Jan)
That would work – if I were an educator;)…(rootmistress,21 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘Week 1 Recap: Getting organized’ by MT
It’s the end of #etmooc orientation week and, for the most part, I think I’ve …
Hi Monika Personally this is one of the times I prefer to read the full post ea…(Sue Waters,20 Jan)
Hi, Monika – I think we’re in the same place: a bit …(David Saunders (@DesignSaunders),21 Jan)
Thanks a bunch, Sue! Would you believe that I never noticed the drop down arrow before …(MT,21 Jan)
Hi, Monika, Glad that my tip helped! There is so many tips to getting more ou…(Sue Waters,21 Jan)
Sue, you’re my hero!…(MT,22 Jan)
Hi Monika I’ve just written a new post to share other ways of working time…(Sue Waters,22 Jan)
Why am I feeling suddenly inadequate?  LOL…(seahawk_ib@comcast.net,22 Jan)
Hi Sue, I stumbled upon a content curation questionnaire on Beth Kanter’s blog ( bi…(MT,23 Jan)

20 Jan: ‘After a few days at etmooc’ by granainoinuk
I have to confess that I am finding really difficult to cope with all the information at e…
Your thoughts are so aligned with mine! ETMOOC is overwhelming. Up to now, I&#…(Sue Dunlop,20 Jan)
Hopefully, we´ll learn how to handle all this new technology in a way which is…(granainoinuk,20 Jan)
Two good points, Gemma: learning at your own pace and how difficult it is to c…(granainoinuk,20 Jan)
I like your attitude. It is very positive and stressless 🙂 I like to put the …(granainoinuk,20 Jan)
I use to deliver professional development for educators on how to use online too…(Sue Waters,20 Jan)
Love your post! I could relate to a lot of your feelings. And I have also exper…(karacjacobs,20 Jan)
Thank you, Sue, you advice is really good. Part of my problem might be, as you…(granainoinuk,21 Jan)
Thank you for your comment. You has expressed much better than me exactly all …(granainoinuk,21 Jan)
Su escritura en inglés es excelente (y mucho mejor de la mía en español, especi…(karacjacobs,21 Jan)

19 Jan: ‘My first week etmoocing’ by yerder
I heard about the #etmooc on Sunday. I registered to it on Monday and created an introduct…
In my Intro to blogging session I focused on explaining why they’ve got you…(Sue Waters,19 Jan)

19 Jan: ‘#etmooc: In the beginning’ by ianinsheffield
Intrigued by the potential and keen to explore a cMOOC, I signed up for #etmooc quite earl…
Hello Ianin, I loved your Empressr presentation. It feels strangle, and …(Lorraine Boulos,19 Jan)
Hi Lorraine, Thanks for dropping by and for the comment. As you rightly poin…(ianinsheffield,20 Jan)

18 Jan: ‘Advice (to myself) on working in the #etmooc’ by onewheeljoe
In “Is that a question I see before me?” Stacey Kerr explains that she holds a…
I needed this. I can’t seem to find the focus. I joined late and am swimming in …(Sheri,19 Jan)
Oh yes — I see you put #etmooc in the title of your post. Great idea! Thanks….(Sheri,19 Jan)
Great advice. This is my first MOOC and I have been struggling t…(gemmaholtambarnsleycollege,19 Jan)
Great insight and a comfort. As soon as other people started to post about m…(Allison adams,19 Jan)
Excellent advice – and thanks for the link to Stacey’…(David Saunders (@DesignSaunders),19 Jan)
Thanks Joe, for posting. I took the new users experience you mention here and …(wiltwhatman,20 Jan)

18 Jan: ‘Jumping In’ by lyndalearns
Day late, dollar short.  Story of my life.  I’m just recovering from a bout of the f…
Welcome, Lynda! You showed me a wealth of resources, not all of t…(Denise Krebs (@mrsdkrebs),18 Jan)
Hey, you’ve been busy! Awesome job! And: hi! Amazing how these little thoughts…(alison,18 Jan)
Thanks for this great summary Lynda, it looks like you’re doing gre…(Margaret A. Powers,19 Jan)

18 Jan: ‘Social Curation Socially’ by Emily Strong
Correction: Jeffrey Heil, not Alec Cuoros, led the #etmooc session on social curation. Dur…
I agree that storing curated collections in a dark closet will not …(Peter Albion (@palbion),19 Jan)
Just a quick clarification – I didn’t run the social curation session. Rat…(Alec Couros,19 Jan)
Thanks for pointing that out! I think the video feed shows you’re name ra…(Emily Strong,22 Jan)
That’s an excellent point – and may of the current social tools are highl…(Emily Strong,22 Jan)

18 Jan: ‘You can bring a horse to water’ by holcunator
Is it just me or am I the only person in my building who is excited about technology? I se…
I can completely sympathize. I work in the academic technology group of a high…(Emily Strong,18 Jan)

17 Jan: ‘Day Three #etmooc – A Day to Play’ by kgitch
I was out of commission yesterday, dealing with hospitals and surgeries, so I missed a who…
Hi Karin Hope everything better now? I failed blogging 101 by forgetting to …(Sue Waters,18 Jan)
Sue, You are so thoughtful to have tracked me down! I’ve scheduled time tomorro…(kgitch,18 Jan)
Hi Karin. I loved the comic – used to use it with elementary students. You could …(Sisqitman,20 Jan)
Glenn, Thank you for your thoughtfulness! I do hope you find a balance of writing mo…(kgitch,21 Jan)
Nice cartoon! I’ll have to play around with that site, thanks for shar…(theenglishsight,23 Jan)
It is a fun site. I haven’t had time to play more, but I will use it again….(kgitch,23 Jan)

17 Jan: ‘Introductions’ by Katie Jean
I have no idea if this is going to embed properly – let’s just call it the lea…
I loved your slideshow, I live in Bowral and yes, that was a very hot day, in Canber…(Angela,23 Jan)
Hi Angela, I found it weird… I left Canberra and it was 39 degrees and it didn…(Katie Jean,23 Jan)

Testing Philosophical Comment Scraper on Etmooc

I’m still intending to Comment Scrape Edinburgh Philosophy Mooc blogs as proposed in my last post but following a comment by Vanessa Vaile and looking for a good set of blogs for testing purposes, I unleashed the Scraper on 81 Etmooc Blogger blogs and it returned the following output (see below) – a good test! There are even more Etmooc WordPress blogs so I’ll try to process these too.

This is all very experimental and I can’t possibly check everything with so many blogs and comments so please let me know if you find any oddities – for which I apologise in advance! If the Etmooc output is considered useful I will keep updating it – comments welcome!

So far I’ve only found a handful of philosophy mooc blogs – there must be more among 260,000 #introphil participants!

MOOC Scraper Output on Fri Jan 25 2013 at 11:49 GMT

136 comments from 31 posts (2013-01-15 to 2013-01-25):

24 Jan: ‘Ripples’ by susanvg
{link} {image} {image} I’ve been thinking about sharing. I participat
What a great post. I love how you visualized the various ripples, it’s so true a…(shegstrom,24Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Getting Organized’ by susanvg
I jumped into ETMOOC without much preparation. So now I am going back and thinking things
I really appreciated your comment that we often ask students to do things which w…(erinluong,24Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Getting to grips with Twitter as I enhance my PLN’ by Max Alvarez
To those who think that Twitter is a piece of cake, let me tell you that sometimes the sim
Hi MaxMost people starting out with Twitter find it hard to get use to initially…(Sue Waters,24Jan)
Hi Max, My journey has paralleled yours in many ways when it comes to Twitter…(Allison Adams,24Jan)
Hello Sue! Thanks for reading my post and writing a comment on it.You’re absolu…(Max Alvarez,24Jan)
Hello Allison. Thanks for reading my post and writing your comment. You’re abso…(Max Alvarez,24Jan)
Wow, you really said it all in this blog post. Sue is truly amazing, I think she …(shegstrom,24Jan)

24 Jan: ‘Thanks to Comments, I Feel Connected-Best learning day ever!’ by shegstrom
{link} {image} {image} Today, I opened my email account and yes ther
So true! I blogged about the connections that come from commenting as well. It is thri…(Sue,24Jan)
I too realised that I haven’t been practicing what I preach this year because I have a…(Mary,24Jan)
Thanks for keeping me grounded. Blogging really does help me put my thoughts int…(shegstrom,24Jan)
I think that is why I am so glad I joined the #etmooc, It has helped me to refle…(shegstrom,24Jan)
We become better writers by writing. Some days we feel more inspired than others. C…(susanvg,24Jan)

23 Jan: ‘Hope is the thing with feathers’ by Alyson Indrunas
Yesterday I had an OL student ask me (in so many words): When is it okay to break the rule
Hi Alyson, thanks for this question, when may I break the rules?I am not a anglo…(connectiv,23Jan)
I really like your answer, and I agree! I just hesitate when there grades i…(Alyson Indrunas,24Jan)

22 Jan: ‘Tweeting, Sharing and Blogging … 3 keywords for DiffiMOOC’ by Azhar Youssef
{link} {image} {image} Sharing is a fundamental part of the massively
Azhar – you have completed a lot for one week of the course! I’m impressed …(posts by tweisz,23Jan)
Dear Tracie,Thanks so much for dropping by. I agree with your idea about pers…(Azhar Youssef,24Jan)

22 Jan: ‘Where are the Comments? Learning Communities and #etmooc’ by shegstrom
{link} {image} {image} I was going to tweet this after listening to
Someone I work with once said that she felt that she blogged into a black ho…(Lisa Sanderson,22Jan)
I was surprised that this post still had no comments, despite it being poste…(Stephen Wilson,22Jan)
This ETMOOC is the perfect environment to start a new blog, or to reinvigorate …(Rodd Lucier,22Jan)
Hello,It is so true – all people are motivated by validation and recognition! For…(thehunni,22Jan)
Great questions. While I’ve had a personal blog off and on for several years…(David Saunders,22Jan)
It is not just blogs that suffer the “NO COMMENT” fate if your p…(Mark Christopher,22Jan)
Great post. I agree it can be difficult and disheartening when the comments don’…(Mary Jones,22Jan)
Hi Shegstrom. I can’t find your first name, so I’ll just use your handle 🙂 …(Glenn Hervieux,22Jan)
I completely agree with this statement. Usually the amount of effort I put in is si…(Vanessa,22Jan)
I know today’s education generations is allowing more and more technologies w…(David Newtoon,22Jan)
It’s about helping your students develop connections and interact with each othe…(Sue Waters,22Jan)
I’d add to the list of seven…Post meaningful, good comments on blogs tha…(Eportfolio Keith,23Jan)
I found the same thing when I was blogging consistently. I used my blog to sha…(Robin Martin,23Jan)
This post made me think of the many emails I send to colleagues at work giving t…(Ms Canavan,23Jan)
Yes, the black hole. I have been part of it for a while. I’m so glad I’m not al…(shegstrom,23Jan)
Stephen, You are too cool. I will definately look over your blog. I like your s…(shegstrom,23Jan)
Thank you Rood, I completely agree. We have all gained an valuable resource and c…(shegstrom,23Jan)
Hi David, Today was my ephiphany. Join as many mooc’s as you can. My best blog …(shegstrom,23Jan)
I agree 100%. Today was a great experienc and Thank you for taking the time to r…(shegstrom,23Jan)
Glenn, Welcome to blogland and may I say Thank you for such a great comment. Yo…(shegstrom,23Jan)
First name, Sherry, I get called “shegsrom” online and in my Skype sess…(shegstrom,23Jan)
I would imagine finding new blogs of quality to share with those new to technolog…(shegstrom,23Jan)
I found the same thing when I was blogging consistently. I used my blog to sha…(Robin Martin,23Jan)
Great discussion. I vowed to start blogging when I signed up for etmooc and t…(Sandra Hoenle,24Jan)

22 Jan: ‘MY PLN’ by Kara Jacobs
I used to be this: {link} {image} {image} But, now, thanks to my PLN,
It’s really something when you start to sketch out the vastness of your pers…(Stephen Wilson,22Jan)
It’s really something when you start to sketch out the vastness of your pers…(Stephen Wilson,22Jan)
Thank you Kara for sharing. I am a graphic designer adapting to work with and for…(ellagouws,23Jan)
Hi Kara, the network, is it the people? or the shared knowledge? or is it the tec…(connectiv,23Jan)

21 Jan: ‘After the first etmooc week…’ by Gemma
Well, this first week has been very useful for me to start building my PLE and PLN. I have
Speaking of a language barrier, I couldn’t find the comment section (comentar…(Melissa Marsh,21Jan)

21 Jan: ‘#ETMOOC – An Introduction Video’ by K Lirenman
A few weeks back a tweet went out about a massive open on-line course (MOOC) focussing on
Fantastic Karen! I love the photos you chose and your voice was so clear. Great job!…(Lora,22Jan)
Thanks for sharing. I follow you on Twitter and I’m always interested in w…(etmoocbythelake,22Jan)
I enjoyed your introductory video. iMovie is one of my favorites. My first t…(Lisa Sanderson,22Jan)
Thanks Lora. I wasn’t able to give this as much of my time as I would have liked…(K Lirenman,22Jan)
I love Summerland! I wish I knew you during my IMC days as it would have been wo…(K Lirenman,22Jan)
Looking forward tot seeing you too. So many places to connect. Some times I have…(K Lirenman,22Jan)
Karen.Nice job! I’m so glad you shared your video. I like the pictures and hea…(Denise Krebs,23Jan)
Karen,It’s so nice to hear your voice and see what is truly important to your lear…(Joy Kirr,24Jan)
Thanks Joy. I hope I’m able to give the MOOC enough of my attention. I feel over…(K Lirenman,24Jan)
Thanks Denise. I feel very fortunate to have you and so many others in my PLN. …(K Lirenman,24Jan)

20 Jan: ‘#ETMOOC Introductory Hello!’ by Laura Gilchrist
I’m excited to take part in #ETMOOC. I keep trying to come up with puns associated with th
Laura,I agree about finding my voice. I found mine through Twitter and bloggin…(Denise Krebs,20Jan)
Laura, I love what you say about discovering your voice and the power of stories. I…(Maureen,20Jan)
I feel you on connection in education. Too often teachers show up, shut their door, …(ericjp,20Jan)

20 Jan: ‘I Need Connected Learning- #ETMOOC’ by shegstrom
Ok, here it is a Sunday afternoon and as football looms on the TV, I have just spent 3+ ho
Love this post Sherry! I worry about all these things too and it’s so hard to fi…(Ms Canavan,24Jan)

20 Jan: ‘Checking Out My Classmates cMOOC Style’ by C. Mondor
Who Should I Sit Next To?It’s been awhile since I was in University. But I do remember the
As a rule most find writing posts less challenging then leaving comments on othe…(Sue Waters,20Jan)
Hi C.Mondor, I do like your pic of the day http://eckeletic.wordpress.com/picture-…(jaapsoft,21Jan)

19 Jan: ‘Hey #ETMOOC, I just met you, and this is crazy but…’ by Ary Aranguiz
{link} {image} {image} Last year, at this time, my husband and I rece
I am the FIRST person to say, Wow! What a wonderful presentation. I am always…(lsniestrath,19Jan)
Hi Ary,Really beautiful post, thank you. I’m always touched by children who…(Alison Christie,19Jan)
Thanks for sharing your ideas and your philosophies and goals. This certainl…(Valia Reinsalu,19Jan)
Why could I not hear your singing? Devastated. I’ll try again. (Everything …(Angela Towndrow,20Jan)
MOOC me baby! Jonny and I loved it, congratulations Ary!…(Angela Towndrow,20Jan)
Thank you for this wonderful post and amazing video, Ary! Your students are bles…(Elena Sher,20Jan)
Awesome Ary…so inspiring! What tool did you use to make this video?…(Maddie,21Jan)
Thank you Laurie! I appreciate your thoughts….(Ary Aranguiz,21Jan)
Alison, thanks for listening and taking the time to write a comment. I’m also …(Ary Aranguiz,21Jan)
Jonny seems like a real cutey pie! Thanks for watching and glad to be MOOCing …(Ary Aranguiz,21Jan)
Elena, I’m also thrilled to be learning with people like you. I hope we can co…(Ary Aranguiz,21Jan)
Thank you Maddie for watching. I used I-Movie on my MAC and found the instrume…(Ary Aranguiz,21Jan)

19 Jan: ” by Alyson Indrunas
Etmoocing: the action of being a part of the {link} #etmooc community.Part of this
Hi AlysonThe key is there are strategies that allow you to monitor the informati…(Sue Waters,19Jan)
Thanks, Sue! I’ve already got you on my Google Reader. I’ll check out your …(Alyson Indrunas,20Jan)
Hi AlysonI’m reading the posts from the Etmooc Blog hub using Google Reader on m…(Sue Waters,20Jan)

19 Jan: ‘MOOC Introduction’ by Barb Brown
This week I enrolled in a massive open online course (MOOC) – {link} http://etmooc
Hi BarbThanks so much for all your educational insite… very excited to be shari…(erinluong,23Jan)

19 Jan: ‘Introducing myself…’ by Gemma
My name’s Gemma and I try to participate in #etmooc.I studied Audiovisual Communication in
Hi Gemma,Welcome to the etmooc. It is my first mooc too, and there is a lo…(Lorraine Boulos,19Jan)
Hi Gemma,Welcome. It’s not my first MOOC. Let me assure you that confusion is…(Vanessa Vaile,19Jan)
Thanks for your comment, Lorraine! I look forward too…(Gemma,20Jan)
Thanks for the encouragement, Vanessa! Little by little…(Gemma,20Jan)

19 Jan: ‘A humbling MOOC experience’ by Sally Hanford
I’m studying a number of other MOOCs at the same time as #edcmooc.One of these is a Course
Hi Sally,I think you have discovered the most wonderful thing about the MOO…(Angela Towndrow,19Jan)
yeah spot on – it’s in the conversations around the ‘core content’ that the real l…(e-purser,19Jan)
This comment has been removed by the author….(Sally Hanford,19Jan)
Thanks Angela, I struggle a bit with Facebook as the discussions don’t appear…(Sally Hanford,19Jan)
Thanks Emily – I work at a UK University where we have a great international …(Sally Hanford,19Jan)

17 Jan: ‘My “Ravenous Demand” – #etmooc’ by Lorraine Boulos
My husband is away in Texas tonight.  My kids are at a concert.  I have the hous
“How have I changed?” — I love that way of looking at learning! …(Claire Thompson,17Jan)
Thx for the comment Claire!…(Lorraine Boulos,17Jan)
I really enjoyed your post Lorraine. It reminded me that the primary purpose we make o…(Mary,17Jan)
Hi LorraineI honestly couldn’t imagine how I might have coped with the #etmooc i…(Sue Waters,17Jan)
Hi Lorraine.That is a great way to reflect on learning – I used to think … and…(Mary Jones,17Jan)
Lorraine: I’m thinking you were one of the people who thought they might be inti…(lisamnoble,18Jan)
Interesting post. You will be able to model what it means to be a learner by making…(susanvg,18Jan)

17 Jan: ” by Jenni Scott-Marciski
So I just read that I am supposed to prepare an introduction.  I’m choosing, at this
Jenni,I loved reading your story and thank you for sharing it (especially the b…(Celia Coffa,17Jan)
So hear you on the mom stuff. I had to stop listening to tonight’s conference to …(jeannemi,17Jan)
G’day Jenni and Celia,Now that I have retired from teaching after 35 years, I feel…(tasteach,17Jan)
Jenni, I had to chuckle and shake my head in wonder when reading your blogpost …(Ms.J.Kooner,17Jan)
Thanks so much. I’ve changed the settings to include the Name/URL opt…(Jenni Scott-Marciski,18Jan)
Sometimes I ask them for just 5 minutes so I can try to sustain my own…(Jenni Scott-Marciski,18Jan)
Jenni, I’m so excited that you have begun blogging. Your reflections are so hone…(Mrs. Rose,19Jan)
On airline flights, the safety instructions alway remind you to secure your own oxyg…(shazeu,20Jan)

17 Jan: ‘About Me’ by susanvg
This voicethread will help you learn a bit about me.I also have many more interests. I’m a
A very enjoyable Voice thread. I looked at your other blogs and loved the ph…(Heather Davis,17Jan)
@Heather Davis Thanks for the comment (even from a Torontonian 😉 ). I’m sure it ‘…(susanvg,18Jan)
Love the pics of the instruments. I remember learning recorder…(erinluong,23Jan)

17 Jan: ‘#Etmooc – Learning More EveryDay’ by shegstrom
Today I came into the last 35 minutes of the {link} #etmooc session. Wow, what am
I am a big fan of diigo – made the switch from delicio.us last year and have…(David Saunders,17Jan)

16 Jan: ‘Update on ETMOOC, Network Building’ by Tutor Mentor Connections
It’s been a busy week. I’ve continued to reach out to people who are involved in volunteer
Hi Daniel. From reading your blogpost & your website, I can tell you have w…(Glenn Hervieux,19Jan)
thanks for posting your ideas. I’ve been using the Internet to exp…(Tutor Mentor Connections,19Jan)

16 Jan: ‘Orientation for #ETMOOC’ by Joanna Sanders
I was excited to get started with #ETMOOC this week. I love exploring, discussing, sharing
Thanks for reminding me to get busy using this app I downloaded months ago….(Judy,16Jan)
Love how you used Haiku Deck to review #etmooc topics!…(DebbieFuco,16Jan)
It is fun and easy to use. I see so many possibilities for student summarizi…(Joanna Sanders,16Jan)
Thanks Debbie! You should try it. I love making slideshows with only a littl…(Joanna Sanders,16Jan)

16 Jan: ‘#etmooc: Visible Learning’ by Kara Jacobs
After “attending” the Monday evening session, I am excited for this “course”. I now unders
I hear you on the blogging aspect. I think a blog is very easy to fall by the waysi…(Jeanne,16Jan)
Hi Kara I like how you’ve include the whiteboards from the orientation session. …(Sue Waters,16Jan)
Excited to read your blogging :)…(MmBex,16Jan)
Thanks Jeannne….(Sra. Jacobs,17Jan)
Hi Sue,Thanks for your comment. It will be interesting to refer back at those w…(Sra. Jacobs,17Jan)
Thanks Martina. Definitely out of my comfort zone, but I think I will learn and…(Kara Jacobs,17Jan)
Hi Kara,A great summary and reflection of the first #etmooc session this w…(flipperteach.com,19Jan)
Hi Kara,You know, I think it is the chaos that I like best. So many ways to go,…(Julie Balen,19Jan)
Hola Kara!Thanks for sharing your #etmooc experience with the world. You post t…(S. Carrillo,19Jan)
Thanks Emilia! And I would same the same about learning from you – thanks for a…(Kara Jacobs,20Jan)
Thanks for commenting Carolyn. I think the experience with my PLN will help me …(Kara Jacobs,20Jan)
Yes, Julie, you comments about there only being so many minutes in the day is s…(Kara Jacobs,20Jan)
Such powerful questions… looking forward to the evolving answers….(mssanderson_ITS,20Jan)

16 Jan: ‘Open Up! — I Know You’re in There!’ by Christy Cate
Well… I removed the privacy lock from my personal Twitter account today ( {link}
Christy,Thanks for writing about the importance of “opening up” using…(Stacy Olson,16Jan)
Your post is brilliant in how it reflects the concerns so many of us have had – th…(thehunni,16Jan)
Hi ChristyFollowing and I can understand why some choose to have locked accounts…(Sue Waters,16Jan)
I like the look of your blog…and I can hear your voice in what you w…(my two hopeful wings,16Jan)

16 Jan: ‘It’s good to stumble…a little…now and then…’ by Carrie Prefontaine
Tonight’s inaugural #etmooc Twitter chat was surprising for me. I’ve been using Twitter fo
Nice reflection… welcome back to school…(erinluong,23Jan)
I think it is good for us as teachers to remind ourselves what it is to be a learne…(susanvg,24Jan)

16 Jan: ‘ETMOOC: Questions from Alec’ by Michael Walker
{link} {image} {image} Yesterday, I attended the synchronous orientat
Thanks so much for sharing your ideas on transparency. I agree with you, mo…(Kristen Swanson,16Jan)
Kristen, Thanks for the comment. I think modeling and living the life of a c…(Michael Walker,17Jan)

15 Jan: ‘Introduction to #ETMOOC’ by Joanna Sanders
{link} {image} {image} I am very excited to be participating in #ETMO
Wow, you certainly have a lot of knowledge, I look forward to learning from you….(shegstrom,16Jan)
Thanks!! I look forward to learning from you too….(Joanna Sanders,16Jan)

15 Jan: ‘Sharing the excitement’ by Valia Reinsalu
So, the {link} etmooc.org introduction  session last night was quite fun. I a
Thanks Heather!…(Cool class,16Jan)

15 Jan: ‘Bah Humbug redux!’ by Karen Young
So of course I posted this in the blog I created for moocmooc using Word Press thinking t
Hi Alan, I realized later that I wasn’t patient enough with the process, but I …(Karen Young,16Jan)

Liberating the xMOOC – a Philosophical Experiment

Here’s my small plan. I’ve dabbled in one or two cMOOCs and xMOOCs and now I’m about to join another xMOOC – Introduction to Philosophy , a Coursera MOOC by Dave Ward, Duncan Pritchard, Michela Massimi, Suilin Lavelle, Matthew Chrisman, Allan Hazlett and Alasdair Richmond from the University of Edinburgh and starting on 28th January.

I’d like to see xMOOCs become much more learner centred, more open like the cMOOCs where independent interaction between participants is positively encouraged. So I’ll be looking outside the ‘official’ course forums for blogs and comments by participants. I’m blowing the cobwebs off my experimental Comment Scraper and if I can find enough activity I’ll try to bring it all together here in a summarised format as I did before during parts of previous cMOOCs.

If you intend to discuss the content or performance of the Introduction to Philosophy MOOC in a WordPress or Blogger blog and don’t mind being comment scraped please consider helping the experiment by letting me know (by comment below or via email ) your blog URL so that the Scraper can tap into the RSS feeds. Note that the relevant hashtag is #introphil.

Philosophy and Inspiration (University Avenue, Glasgow – photo by liquidindian)

I’ve never studied philosophy before but this particular MOOC, one of the first from a leading UK University, does seem attractive as it’s introductory and “1-2 hours per week” not too demanding in study time. According to the website:

This course will introduce you to some of the main areas of research in contemporary philosophy. Each week a different philosopher will talk you through some of the most important questions and issues in their area of expertise. We’ll begin by trying to understand what philosophy is – what are its characteristic aims and methods, and how does it differ from other subjects? Then we’ll spend the rest of the course gaining an introductory overview of several different areas of philosophy.

It really is a massive course – about 80,000 people enrolled so far. ‘Meaning of Life’ in the first week – I can’t wait!

Designing a Comment Scraper for MOOCs (and other animals)

I published the daily output of a basic Comment Scraper program during the last week of the Change11 MOOC. Since then there has been some further interest and I have been happy to make the original program (in Python 2.7) available on request. I have now written a new and I hope improved version. Although still experimental and only intended for WordPress blogs it is at the stage where realistic testing with user feedback would be very useful.

The Comment Scraper is intended to bring together brief summarised versions of recent blog posts along with with resulting comments (See A ‘Comment Scraper’ for Aggregating Blog Posts with Comments in a MOOC and the update) and FAQ. The idea is to provide nothing more than a quick impression of current MOOC activity – what it’s about and where it’s at. In principle, any online activity where discussion is distributed over a number of blogs could be treated in a similar way.

I would now like to experiment further by scraping a number of blogs associated with the Current/Future State of Education MOOC and publishing the output here: MOOC Comment Scraper Output (2). There is also an RSS feed available.

It is not realistic for me to ask all the bloggers and commenters that may be involved for permission to publish. (I have little idea of the legalities – can anyone advise?). Following encouragement received during and following Change11 I’m  assuming that publication is acceptable but any request by a blog author not to scrape their blog will of course be respected. I should point out that I have absolutely no commercial interest in comment scraping!

Operation of the Comment Scraper:

The scraper works by downloading post and comment RSS files from each blog and creating post headings for each post along with the date, first line and any comments arising from that post. The form the output takes for a single post is illustrated below. The comments are always displayed in date order, earliest first.

Date: ‘Post Title’ by Post Author
—————————————————— First line of Post —————-—————————— …
————————————— First line of comment 1 ———————-… (Comment1 Author1, Date1)
————————————— First line of comment 2 ————————-… (Comment2 Author2, Date2)
————————————— First line of comment 3 ———————–… (Comment3 Author3, Date3)
etc    etc

Outputs for all posts are displayed in date order with the latest first so that new posts always appear at the top of the display window and old posts drop off the end when their age exceeds a setting for maximum display time.

Some Considerations affecting design:

• Paring Down– RSS feeds contain a considerable amount of machine-readable information but to achieve a brief and convenient human-readable display the Comment Scraper allocates only 2 lines to the post heading (in bold) and 1 for each comment along with the commenter’s name and date. An additional line in the heading could provide more information such as the title of the blog but repeating this for every post seemed excessive.
• ‘Pingbacks’– These appear as comments in WordPress RSS feeds and usually record the existence of a link to a particular post from a different blog. The Scraper ignores pingbacks to avoid interrupting the flow of comments following the post heading. Pingbacks can vary from casual references to very significant linkages but they are often quite unrelated to the direct comments – maybe there is a case for displaying them independently.
• Aggregation – The RSS feeds available via WordPress blogs are essentially updates (intended for RSS readers) so the initial comments for a particular post can rapidly vanish from feeds if there are numerous later comments and pingbacks. As the Scraper ignores pingbacks a cascade of pingbacks following an initial posting can push direct comments out of the feeds surprisingly quickly. The latest version of the Scraper therefore aggregates comments locally so that the early comments on a post are still displayed when absent from later feeds.
• Maximum Display Time – Subtracting this from the current date sets a cutoff date for any display of posts and comments. Scanning a large number of blogs will tend to generate lengthy displays unless max display time is reduced. It might be useful to vary this automatically so that a fixed number of posts, comments – or even an approximately constant page length is achieved.
• Ordering – Posts are displayed strictly in order of their publication date and consequently posts from any one blog will tend to be interspersed with posts from the others. An alternative would be to group together all posts from the same blog – this of course would alter the natural date order for posts as a whole.
• No Comment – Although the Scraper can assemble headings for all posts within the allowable range of dates it only displays posts with at least 1 comment – it is after all a Comment Scraper! In some circumstances it could be useful to draw the line at more than 1 comment in order to display a smaller number of posts attracting more than several comments.
  As there may be numerous posts without comments their inclusion can considerably lengthen the display. Martin Hawksey (in an impressive post on blog post comments) mentions in the context of MOOCs, that, ” … it might be useful to know where the inactive nodes are so that moderators might want to either respond or direct others to comment”. This is a fair point and perhaps there is also a case for displaying commentless post headings independently.
• HTML in Text – The Scraper extracts raw text from the first line of posts or comments but tries to ignore any HTML that may be present. In some cases it will insert a message in italics: eg ‘ {link} ‘  when a link is detected.
• Language Translation – If a post is written in an unfamiliar language, automatic translation services such as Google Translate can, at the very least, provide vital clues about content and comments. In principle, a Comment Scraper incorporating language translation could be effective in highlighting such posts.

I will try to keep the Scraper output updated in the hope that it begins to be useful as a means of tracking MOOC activity. Your feedback and comments would be greatly appreciated!

The Future of MOOCs Revealed !

Will the MOOC take off?
(Image credit: thewamphyri, on Flickr)

I was telling my old pedagogical friend Dr Boss how I’d been scratching my head over a new post on the future of c and x MOOCs. “Scratch no more!”, he exclaimed pouring himself another drink – “It’s all here on this memory stick!” He insisted that he’d hacked through to his friend, Biffo from the future again and here was the transcript. It was from 2033 last time but now Biffo seems to have fast-forwarded to 2039! Well, I got nowhere with my own post so here’s the transcript for what it’s worth …. (Apologies for the abrupt ending – faulty memory stick I think.)

#dsg^%fg$8xxxxx**35 Sysop validate?????: 184597839055: 4th Sept: 2039 K: Boss for you Sir!
B: Eh? … Boss? Who are you? Why no video Kate? ……
DB: Biffo! We spoke before… Don’t you remember?
B: Well what y’know !! ….. You ol’ lag! ….. It’s been years!
K: No video Sir and I must inform you that …
B: Not now Kate.
DB: Um – well what have you been up to Biffo?
B: It’s been great! I’m a real educat now Boss – got a job with dUcation in their Agents’ department. Hush hush stuff so don’t ask me too much about it.
DB: Agents?
B: Yeah – I’d rather have gotten into Teachers cos I’d done some good stuff with vlizer electronics but the money’s good and Jane and me – we’ve 4 kiddos to support now!
DB: Teachers?

B: What’s up with you Boss? – oh no!! – just out again and not a clue? What did you do this time? – I don’t wanna know! – guess you need an education more than ever now!
DB: Look Biffo, I’ve NOT been in prison. I’m just not too familiar with what you mean by ‘Agents’ and ‘Teachers’ . What do these people do now?
B: No need to be coy Boss – ha! ha! they’re not people!! Y’know, a long time ago a ‘computer’ was a person who calculated stuff – well now, same idea for ‘Teacher’!
DB: That’s amazing – so robot teachers take classes in schools now!
B: Nothing you could call a school these days Boss – just the edu-support centres. As for robots, not if you mean the clunky SF type with their prime directives. Look Boss, you’ve been away far too long – would it help if I gave you a run down on what’s happened to education since – well when from?
DB: Yes please – let’s say from 2012.
B: OK – Kate?
K: Quoting from ‘Wikipaedia’ (2012): “Higher education is an educational level that follows the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, or gymnasium. Tertiary education is …..”
B: SHADDUP KATE !!
DB: BIFFO!! That’s no way to talk to a lady!
B: That’s no lady, that’s my Agent! ….. She gets carried away. Look, processing or data storage may not be much of a problem now but it’s still not so easy to emulate human cognition. I ought to try tweaking her a bit.
K: Sorry Sir!
DB: Um – so she’s just software then?
B: Yeah – more or less but with QC add-ons – and her front-end electronics were modified for the new vlizer …..
DB: Now you’re losing me – just tell me about education from 2012. I’m particularly interested to find out what happened to cMOOCs and xMOOCs ?
B: What? Hey Kate – we’re a bit lost here. Let’s have QUICK translations for all these words we don’t get.
K: Certainly Sir. QC is short for Quantum Computing. MOOC is a now obsolete acronym (2008) for ‘Massive Open Online Course’. A MOOC was a primitive type of Online Learning Event (OLE). Definition of cMOOC or xMOOC is problematical for reasons that cannot be discussed briefly.

B: OK – there’s all sorts of OLEs depending on who they’re for – kids, adults, introverts, extraverts, ex-prisoners – hey Boss!! …… or how long they go on for and whatever instruction style you like – there’s a fantastic spectrum of styles from just about none at all with the laid-back Canadian ones right on through to the 3Ns at the other extreme. I’ll tell him about all this Kate! Canadian style OLEs started the ball rolling way before my time – as a sort of cult with gurus and followers and so on! – wish I’d been there! – the very early records seem to have vanished. They’re great fun and tremendous for socialising. Anyone can join in or even start one up themselves and they cost hardly anything to run. You don’t need to do much – walk away if you want – nobody cares a hoot! They’re great for introducing masses of folks to stuff like history or politics when there’s plenty to spout about even if you learn less than RPI. All the same, the Canadians launched more than a few budding geniuses on their way to fame. They’re not so good for math and science – though I heard about one for kids that had them printing out and testing each others’ inventions! One of the mothers said, “Never ……
K: ‘RPI’ stands for ‘Removal of Pig Ignorance’: knowledge only of the very basics of a topic.

B: OK now, ‘3Ns’ stand for the ‘No Nonsense Nanny’ style – get your fingers rapped if you don’t follow instructions! Lotsa structure so they can be expensive to run. They started in cahoots with some of the classroom courses running in real colleges and universities. Employers had some funny ideas about recruiting people in those days but they were cosy with what the colleges did so if you paid your money and jumped through all the hoops you got a paper certificate that could help with a job. The nannys kept things strictly on the straight and narrow, employers were happy and the funds kept rolling in – for a while anyway! I guess the instructional styles of most accredited OLEs fall somewhere between the Canadian and 3N extremes now. You might have an OLE for a few thousand, on something like economics say, with a strong Canadian flavour and then up the human resources by drafting in scores of nannys to help with answering questions, marking essays and generally jolly things along to get some serious learning actually done! But then you probably have to reward the nannys somehow – somebody has to pay the piper! Hey! – that reminds me – the last PRP stuff I saw had a real knockout 3N-style module on ethics – maybe I could put you down for that?
K: ‘PRP’ stands for Prisoner Rehabilitation Program.

DB: Um … very interesting but tell me more about how Open Courseware came to be used.
B: I think I told you last time that scores of set piece lectures and other courseware was recorded early on by the old time professors and just dumped for anyone to play around with. And then all these companies, charities, philanthropists came along too and did just that, all doing their own thing – creating and dumping even more stuff!
DB: I see, so eventually only the best survived.
B: Noo! It ALL survived – that was the problem. You had all sorts of learning stuff in all different shapes and sizes – you name it: interactive quizzes, gameware, OLE’s tailored for 10s, 100s or 1000s in every conceivable language, media type, synchronous or not and every level right through from kindergarten to research – a real mess!
DB: Ah! – Information Overload!
B: You gottit Boss! Some was excellent, some indifferent and some truly awful including reams of half-finished stuff that was very good until you couldn’t find a middle or an end. Then there was the closed stuff for sale and the certification promise scams where you spend a fortune failing the AGIs with more than one college – and THEIR backs were so hard up against the wall they’d still happily take your money!
K: AGI means, ‘Assessment with Guaranteed Identity’
B: And then EduCop stepped in.
K: Educop is the Community of Practice for Education: a community of ……
B: He knows that Kate. And they really sorted out courseware curation.
DB: By deleting all the rubbish?
B: No Way! It’s still all there – the old educats argued a lot over this or that way of learning. Well, making decent courseware then was far more expensive than now and hard choices had to be made but even then recording and storing was cheap. They didn’t catch on so quick that once a chunk of courseware was done it was there for reuse or remixing for some purpose or other for EVER. So most of their investment paid off whatever screwed-up instructional styles they used – if only they could see what we’ve made of their stuff now! It’s still all there, either outside EduNet or properly indexed by EduCop so the Agents can really do their stuff.
DB: I see, myself I prefer the Decimal Dewey system for indexing. I’ve always found it superior to ……
K: Dewey Decimal System, was a proprietary library classification system created by Melvil Dewey in 1876.
B: Eh? Boss, indexing’s moved on since 1876! Metacontent’s one of our biggest departments – we work a lot with them. Suppose you’ve got a chunk of courseware – to make it easy for you, suppose it’s a video on Quadratic Equations with nothing more than a couple of optional Q and As and an open link to folks who use them for something.
K: Q and As means embedded Question and Answers with or without scoring, often with monitoring, sometimes with ……
B: OK Kate – keep it simple. Hey! Now, I remember last time we talked I was with QE! NO KATE! – he knows what that means!
DB: Yes indeed! Don’t you help with Quadratic Equations any more?
B: Nah! – didn’t have the time when I joined dUcation so Winnie took over – now she’s stuck with the new Teachers!
K: ‘Teachers’ are software packages that facilitate instructional processes. Examples are quizzes of all types, simulation with and without ……
B: OK, OK Kate – Yeah – tagging courseware with the simple stuff like ‘author’ or ‘creation date’ was never much of a problem but procurement Agents need a lot more metacontent depending on what their users want – or think they want!

DB: So search engines became much more sophisticated?
B: I’ve been reading about them! ‘Goggle’ was popular in the 10s before Agents or Mediators came along.
K: ‘Google’ is correct, Sir. ‘Mediators’ are software packages that attempt to match an Agent’s requirements with source metacontent.
B: So let’s say somebody needs to solve some quadratic equations without too much of a clue about what they are but with enough gumption to plug away at them without games or stories and so on like for a young kid. Now their Agent knows all about that and passes it onto the Mediator along with what’s worked out best for that learner in the past – got from Learner Analytics. The Mediator tries to square all this with the Metacontent – knowledge mining’s no mean feat! – by computing the minimum distance in a weighted Hilbert space between a vector quantised version of the…….
DB: Stop it Biffo! I can’t keep up with this! Let’s just say it tries to find best fit courseware for user requirements commensurate with their past learning experience?
K: Learner Analytics is a repository containing learner profiles and online data trails. Hilbert space is ……
B: Shush Kate! Hey that’s very good Boss! You could go places if only you turned over a new leaf! Yeah, that’s right – it TRIES and maybe gets matched to just the QE courseware chunk by itself since not much is being asked for but if it was, the mediator tries to carve out a personal learning path through even more courseware by looking at even more metacontent. That can get tricky without human cognition but mediators do a decent job these days. There’s been some hilarious mistakes! – but the idea is that the learner talks in their own way to EduNet through their own dashboard and vlizer, at their own pace and they can often deal with problems by themselves.

DB: So what learning theories are now prevalent?
B: Hey Boss, I’m not up with the neurology! That’s where the sharp end is. Some of us in Agents are pushing for big changes but it’s all very hush hush.
K: ‘Hush hush’ means he is not at liberty to talk about it.
B: That’s right Kate but I will say this.
K: Inconsistent Sir! You are not at liberty to ……
B: Hmm – the next generation of Agents can’t come out too fast for me!
DB: Artificial Intelligence in an advanced form I suppose?
B: Artificial!! You don’t know what’s going on in dUcation! Ethics is holding up things again and the politicians have the wrong end of the stick as usual ……. but yeah, learning theory? – only a few years ago there was little more than armchair philosophy – now you need to be right in there with MediCop even for the RPI, let alone grappling with nets that get too big for their boots – and as for Godagents!
K: MediCop is the Community of Practice for the medical profession. I already defined RPI.
DB: Godagents?
K: I’m not at liberty to define ‘Godagents’!
DB: Just as well Kate – you’ll never be the same again after the last time EduNet took off by itself – Heh!
K: I’m not at liberty …….

DB: I’m also curious about how learners can be prevented from cheating?
B: Good question Boss. Well it’s just about impossible to cheat on everything that goes into a learner’s portfolio and I think I told you last time that AGI was …. Now why do you want to know about cheating Boss ????
K: Sir! Jane says to get home at once and help her with the X cooking. X stands for an expletive that may not be appropriate in the context of the current conversation. It means ….
B: Wow! I clean forgot – got the in-laws for dinner !! Kate, tell Boss anything he wants to know – unless it’s about illegal stuff! Catch you sometime again Boss – and keep your nose clean!
K: Yes Sir.
DB: Well, thanks Biffo for such an interesting conversation. I hope we meet again – sometime.
K: Boss, you may ask me about anything you like except criminal activities.
DB: OK Kate, I’d like to know what a ‘vlizer’ is?
K:‘Vlizer’ is the common shortened form for ‘visualizer’. The first vlizers were small hand-held devices with simple touch-screens but had reliable speech recognition and synthesis for all 2-way communication thereby eliminating the need for real or virtual keyboards. The development of inexpensive holographic projection systems then led to the elimination of the physical screen itself and with advances in clothware the vlizer has now become effortless in use for nearly all networked functions. Clothware means ……
DB: Thank you Kate – that was very helpful and now, well – um …… who won the Grand National in 2011?
K: The starting price was 14/1 and Ballabriggs won by 2¼ lengths.
DB: Thank you so much! And – er …… in 2013?
K: The starting price was 100/1 andXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX

C or X MOOCs ? – Make Way for the Super-MOOC !

While basic topics such as the validity of various learning theories can be joyfully debated until the cows come home in a connectivist cMOOC, this seems less appropriate for the ‘hard’ sciences, such as physics and chemistry, where a knowledge of fundamental procedures and processes is essential for even basic comprehension, let alone expertise. Here, facts are, … well facts, and becoming familiar with them by slogging through the mathematics and other donkey work is likely to be more productive than protracted debate. Now, having joined an xMOOC in the shape of Coursera’s Quantum Computing Course, I am finding out for myself. This is not a course for beginners but I do at least have some of the required background.

Calling a cMOOC a ‘course’ has always struck me as a misnomer – but not so for a Coursera xMOOC. The course I’m on has a well-defined curriculum of 8 week duration ending with a 3 hour timed examination. New course content in the form of notes and several shortish videos are released every week and there are weekly assignments to be tackled. The assignments can be submitted and auto-marked – frustratingly, only correct answers seem to generate feedback! The professor  in the videos does a good job but is very much ‘sage on the stage’. His explanations are competent and helpful although sometimes the course notes do not match in very well with the videos. I have yet to see the prof descend from the stage and interact directly with learners in the discussion forums. A TA deals with admin matters there (typos in the notes or gremlins in the marking system etc) but evidently not with queries on course content. Queries of this type, at all levels of difficulty, are left to other participants but fortunately there are several individuals (not me!) who appear well-qualified to help out. They devote considerable time and energy to providing personalised assistance and are able to lead informed discussion. This ‘unofficial’ bonus is clearly appreciated by other participants and contrasts with the relentless one-way transfer of content from sage to student.

Receiving the “statement of accomplishment” depends on overall performance on 7 assignments plus the final exam and there is a complicated marking scheme involving penalties for late submissions of the assignments. No doubt carefully crafted to suit the diverse circumstances of participants, its fairness seems doomed to endless debate in the forums! This obsession with the mechanics of assessment and the tacit assumption that expertise at this level can be properly measured by not much more than multiple-choice questions is disconcerting. I conclude that there’s nothing like a bit of old-fashioned xMOOC behaviourist pedagogy for learning the basics and, like many others on the course, I’ve certainly found the experience interesting and enjoyable – as far as it goes. It may not go much further for me though as real life intervenes and keeping up the pace takes an ever-increasing amount of time. I have no particular interest in ‘passing’ the course but yet part of me is spurred on by the fear of ‘failure’ that still dogs the survivors of 20th century formal education (along with ‘exam dreams’!) Another part of me just wants time to study some of the more interesting course topics in detail before moving on. That’s me – but the ‘Massive’ in MOOC delivers a wide diversity of other participants with other learning objectives who want something else. This of course is not usually the case for the traditional college courses on which Coursera and other xMOOCs appear to be based.

It seems to me that a MOOC has the potential to provide learners with a degree of choice way over and above what is possible in traditional courses. Imagine as an ideal, some sort of multi-layered, many-pathed super-MOOC offering a multitude of different modes of participation. Sub-courses on prerequisite topics are available on tap and the path traversed by different learners can, with or without advice, take many different possible routes through copious notes, videos, interactive quizzes and so on depending on the background and objectives of individual learners – even 3 hour timed exams to be taken if you must! Human assistance is available for the asking – perhaps via scores of previous participants who have already demonstrated their usefulness and are rewarded somehow for their assistance. The financial implications are beyond me but could such a super-MOOC not evolve relatively inexpensively from small beginnings by developing content and infrastructure over several iterations as ever-increasing numbers of participation modes are catered for?

Returning to the humble MOOC of today – this is a testing time as the altruism and openess that gave birth to the original cMOOCs is challenged by the new style xMOOCs with their focus on existing Higher Education practices and ways and means of ‘monetising’.  I can only hope that the aspirations (below), expressed almost half a century ago, will not be lost in the process!

Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.

Article 13: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16th December 1966