Massive open online course

A massive open online course is an online course designed for large-scale participation and open access. It often offers enrollment without charge to anyone with an internet connection.

Learning management system: Software that organizes course materials, enrollment, communication, and assessment. MOOC platforms use these systems to deliver lessons and track participation.
Open educational resources: Teaching, learning, and research materials that are openly licensed for reuse and adaptation. MOOCs extend open education through structured online courses, though not all course materials are openly licensed.
Coursera: An online learning company that offers courses and credentials from universities and other organizations. Its launch helped bring university-backed MOOCs to a broad public audience.
Digital divide: Unequal access to digital technologies, connectivity, and the skills needed to use them. Internet access and digital skills limit who can benefit from ostensibly open courses.
Massive open online course platform: An online service that hosts and delivers massive open online courses. Platforms such as Coursera and edX supply the infrastructure for MOOC delivery.
OpenCourseWare: A movement to publish university course materials freely online, begun by MIT in 2001. Its free course materials helped establish the idea of university learning online without enrollment.
edX: An online learning platform founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012. It became a major university-led venue for delivering MOOCs.
Completion rate: The proportion of enrolled learners who finish a course or program. MOOCs often enroll many participants but see only a small share complete.
Peer assessment: An assessment method in which learners evaluate one another’s work using shared criteria. It can help assess open-ended assignments when instructor grading cannot scale.
David Cormier: A Canadian educator who coined the term “MOOC” in 2008. He named the format after George Siemens and Stephen Downes’s open online course.

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