ABSTRACT
Access to affordable education to achieve printed and digital literacy helping all learners to acquire knowledge, coping with change, and seeding mindsets for creativity and intellectual curiosity are considered major indicators and measures of quality of life worldwide. The emergence of MOOCs promising new, scalable models that can provide an “education for everyone” has generated a new and broad interest in rethinking learning and education. Frames of reference (identifying underlying assumptions, conceptualizations, and perspectives) are needed to conceptualize the meaning and the implications of MOOCs in the context of rich landscapes for learning. Most of the discussions and analyses about MOOCS have been based on economic perspectives and technological perspectives. This contribution critically assesses MOOCs from a learning sciences perspective.
