Lots to ponder after completing this week’s assignments. Here are some of my thoughts as they pertain to “emergent learning “and MOOCs.

First, I want to thank, Cris, for the dynamic introduction and for referencing Claire Majors’ work regarding communication networks. After listening to the video, I conducted an Internet search to find out more about the relationship between emergent learning and a distributed communication network. In the article entitled, Emergent Learning and Learning Ecologies in Web 2.0, Williams, Kanouso & Mackness (2011) concluded that emergent learning is likely to occur when “when many self-organizing agents interact frequently and openly, with considerable degrees of freedom, but within specific constraints.” Furthermore, they surmised that if the openness of a distributed communication network is not balanced by “constraint and inclusive values” emergence can degenerate into isolation for a learner. This isolation may in turn reinforce prejudice rather than produce the “wisdom of the crowd.” The challenge for faculty, therefore, is finding and maintaining balance in a course designed as a distributed communication network.

A MOOC is an example of distributed communication network in the sense that a MOOC promotes connections among learners. According George Siemen, MOOCs foster self-regulated, motivated, and autonomous learners….and emergent learning. However, in the report entitled, Innovating Pedagogy 2013, by Sharples et al. (2013) indicated that fewer than 10% of people who register for a MOOC complete the course. Also, they found that viewing is far higher than engagement and that there are different types of participant, including the viewer, the volunteer student, and the social learner. What I have gleaned from this report and the other material on MOOCs is that more research is needed to uncover the short and long-term benefits of MOCCs for all categories of learners.