ABSTRACT
MOOCs are more than just massive, open, online courses. The notion of the MOOC is coupled with: the strengths and limitations of the information technology platforms that make them possible; the relative merits of the providers of both platforms and courses (edX, Coursera, and others); and the value of the very idea that courses can be offered by the best teachers from the best universities, at no charge, to anyone who wishes to enroll. This chapter peels MOOCs back to their fundamentals, uncovering the anatomy of MOOC courses, platforms, and multiple levels of provider and user in the evolving MOOC market. It presents MOOCs as an educational innovation that combines and extends the capabilities of existing technologies, and draws on a range of approaches to e-learning to offer a new educational product in a new way to new markets.
