Online, Bigger Classes May Be Better Classes

"[Students] didn't get credit, but they didn't get a bill, either. In an experiment that could point to a more open future for e-learning, [Stephen] Downes and George Siemens attracted about 1,200 noncredit participants last year. They expect another big turnout the next class, in January. The Downes-Siemens course has become a landmark in the small but growing push toward "open teaching." ...Openness proponents contend that distance education often isolates students behind password-protected gates. By unlatching those barriers, professors like Mr. Couros are inventing a way of learning online that feels less like a digital copy of face-to-face classes and more like the open, social, connected Web of blogs, wikis, and Twitter. It can expose students to a far broader network than they would encounter discussing their lessons with a small group of graduate students. Some open professors are finding, though, that exposure brings its own challenges....Still, the concept is spreading. The classes have even spawned a new name: Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC....."