Der Begriff Massive Open Online Course (deu.: Massiver-Offener-Online-Kurs), kurz MOOC, bezeichnet eine spezielle Form von Onlinekursen, die offen (open) für alle eingeschriebenen Studenten sind und zahlreiche (massive) Teilnehmerzahlen aufweisen.
Universities have failed to recognize the pent-up demand for learning as the economy has diversified and society has become more complex and interconnected. As a consequence, the internet has contributed by creating a shadow education system where learners learn on their own and through social networks. MOOCs reflect society’s transition to a knowledge economy and reveal the inadequacy of existing university models to meet learner’s needs.
J. Kim, P. Guo, D. Seaton, P. Mitros, K. Gajos, и R. Miller. Proceedings of the First ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale Conference, стр. 31–40. New York, NY, USA, Association for Computing Machinery, (2014)
A. McAuley, B. Stewart, G. Siemens, и D. Cormier. (2010)Created through funding received by the University of Prince Edward Island through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's "Knowledge Synthesis Grants on the Digital Economy". 2010 CC Attribution..