The Past, Present, and Future of MOOCs and Their Relevance to Software Engineering

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are a recent development in online education aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Web. They are a potentially disruptive technology, changing how education is delivered and funded around the world. MOOCs are relevant to software researchers and practitioners, not only because they will increasingly receive lifelong education through MOOCs and related technologies, but also because content creation, delivery, and enhancement of MOOCs is evolving into a new form of socially- and cognitively-embedded software development. This paper discusses how education is being enhanced by MOOCs and other digital learning technology. In particular, we distinguish the free educational content provided by MOOCs from the emerging collaborative processes through which MOOCs are created, which is arguably more transformative on education than the content itself. We discuss blended models of higher education to suit different learner communities, as well as nascent moves toward the creation of instructional communities of educators that transcend institutional boundaries. We also explore MOOCs and their evolution as a subject for research in the learning sciences and implications for R&D in software and systems engineering