MOOCs: The phenomenon.
Introduction: Distance education and technology are intrinsically linked. Although distance education has been a part education for a number of decades, with the emergence of new technology, the concept of distance education is forever changing. Gone are the days, where distance education was delivered in a small classroom with your course material arriving by post and with a teacher available via landline to support you should you have any questions. Today, students can engage with course material, tutors, teachers and each other, from anywhere in the world, by simply having access to a computer and the internet. Through the introduction of computer assisted learning (CAL), distance education and instructional delivery has become more efficient and effective. In more recent years, the education sector and in particular the university sector, have seen the development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs, are online courses that allow individuals free access and unobstruc...