Missives from the MOOC 1

I've just joined a MOOC. As I travel on this six week journey, I want to use these Missives to share some of the best bits.

First, what on earth is a MOOC? MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. They are online courses that are available for anyone to join.

Here's a short video with Dave Cormier's explanation:

There are variations in how MOOCs are structured, but the one I've joined includes a variety of content and projects about using games in education. We will have opportunities to communicate through discussion forums, chats on Twitter, and streaming video on Google Hangout. We won't have grades, but there are opportunities to earn awards and badges. It's a great opportunity to learn alongside a group of motivated educators from a variety of backgrounds.

What are we learning about in this MOOC? In the first three weeks we are learning about apps, AR (Augmented Reality), and ARGs (Alternate Reality Games). In the second three weeks, we are applying what we have learned to create our own games using these tools.