A massive open online course is an ecosystem

from which knowledge can emerge

In a traditional course

you end up in a social contract

with an institution

or with an instructor.

They have the knowledge

and you want that knowledge

so you go to a classroom

you go to an online location

and you engage in this social contract

where you go

you've purchased the time,

and you'll take home the knowledge.

They will judge whether or not

you have the appropriate knowledge

at the end of that course.

In a lot of situations

that's really good.

A MOOC is something entirely different

The knowledge contract in a MOOC

does not presume

that there is one thing you need to know

in a given field

the materials that we study that are part of the syllabus

are really just a starting point

for the negotiation of knowledge.

The outcomes might be as varied as a discussion,

a blog post or a peer reviewed article.

Really a MOOC is just a catalyst for knowledge

Knowledge in a MOOC is emergent

During those discussions

between the participants

and between the facilitators

themes are going to begin to emerge

those themes are going to combine

with the course materials

to create a really unpredictable knowledge base

from which people are going to learn

and with which they are going to engage.

For the participants in a Mooc

they are gonna come out of the course

with a far better idea of how their own knowledge

matches up against others in the field.

The more importantly

they're going to come out with a knowledge network

a network of people and ideas

that's going to carry

long past the end of that course date.

For the field itself

it offers a focused discussion

That discussion may clarify point of debate

or it may push knowledge in that field

to new and interesting places.