ABSTRACT
The explosion of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in 2012 represents a landmark case in the history of educational technology because never before has there been so much interest by political, economical, and educational stakeholders. While for the past few years, the emergence of MOOCs has arrived on the general educational landscape with much fanfare and impact, DE has surprisingly been completely excluded from the general conversation. This chapter suggests that MOOCs are closely linked to the distance education (DE) community. It brings about an informed conversation between these two 'strange bedfellows'. While the reliance on the power of technology constitutes a major similarity between DE and MOOCs, they both differ significantly in terms of the theoretical validation of the pedagogical assumptions. DE theories focus on crucial aspects of learning such as interaction and feedback and have managed to generate a unique body of knowledge that helps to structure programs, courses, and materials.
