It was only a matter of time before massive open online courses (MOOC) were challenged to see online learning in a new light. Distributed Open Collaborative Course (DOCC) has a different approach to how students should learn through online education and the role of the instructor. Where MOOCs facilitated the traditional sense of teaching, having one instructor who values the topic they teach. DOCC has expanded this idea to include many instructors, experts, and guest lecturers from various regions to teach the students.
The belief for DOCC is that it takes more than one instructor on a subject for students to truly learn a topic. DOCC focuses on interaction between students, teachers, and peers to expand on their topic, while learning from one another is the vital component. Anne Balsamo, dean of the School of Media Studies at The New School and co-facilitator of the DOCC, said “who you learn with is as important as what you learn. Learning is a relationship, not just something that can be measured by outcomes or formal metrics.”
Currently, 16 institutions are collaborating with FemTechNet, makers of DOCC, to provide students credit for their courses. The material consists of video, syllabi, and an interesting assignment to facilitate “Storming Wikipedia,” encouraging students to revise wikipedia pages in a unbiased manner. DOCCs first class will start this September to December with educators and students from around the world.
To learn more about FemTechNet and DOCCs click here!
Tells us what you think! What are your thoughts on MOOCs verses DOCCs?