For my review of Cpen Course websites, I chose to review
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) OpenCourseware (OCW).
According to the MIT OCW website, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a
web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and
available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.” I reviewed the site’s “online tour” (at
http://ocw.mit.edu/help/get-started-with-ocw/) which described the course
content and explored a number of the courses themselves. While the format has been modified for
distance learning, the available courses have all previously been taught at MIT
and were not pre-planned or designed for online learning.
Because the courses were first taught in the classroom, they were not designed for distance learning and do not follow many of the recommendations for online learning. For example, the course do not have instructor support, nor do they have any guidance on how to succeed as a distance learner and students complete the course on their own without a scheduled timeline; however, there are many benefits to this program. For example, MIT did build in study groups for most of their courses, which allows students to help each other in the same way that a certified distance learning class does with discussion groups.
References:
Because the courses were first taught in the classroom, they were not designed for distance learning and do not follow many of the recommendations for online learning. For example, the course do not have instructor support, nor do they have any guidance on how to succeed as a distance learner and students complete the course on their own without a scheduled timeline; however, there are many benefits to this program. For example, MIT did build in study groups for most of their courses, which allows students to help each other in the same way that a certified distance learning class does with discussion groups.
In discussing the various components of a course
management system (CMS), Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2012)
state that most CMSs provide the same basic set of components such as required
readings, content presentation, course communication, group project space,
student assessments, etc. While the MIT
OCW doesn’t have student assessment tools, course communication and group
project space, it does provide many CMS features such as course content,
syllabus, references, software and downloads, which are all easily accessible
from the main page. Some courses have
the actual course lectures (as a downloadable webcast), while others have the actual
course test as well as the answers to allow students to complete quizzes and
check their answers after they complete the quiz. All of the courses have a course key which
shows what is included with the course, such as multimedia files, study groups,
tests, etc. For some courses, you may
have to purchase a textbook, but the course provides a URL link (for example, a
link to purchase the book on Amazon).
Overall, I was extremely impressed with what is available for a
completely free course site.
References:
MIT (2012). MITOPENCOURSEWARE. Retrieved from http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
Simonson,
M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning
at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson
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