Anthropology in and of Moocs

Bibliographic Data

ID2258335
AuthorsRachel Flamenbaum (0000-0002-8306-6878, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Manduhai Buyandelger (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Greg Downey (0009-0001-5877-4717), Orin Starn (0000-0002-2570-8182, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Catalina Laserna (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Shreeharsh Kelkar (0000-0002-6683-5751, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Carolyn Rouse (0000-0002-2343-3306, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Tom Looser (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
EditorsGraham M Jones (0000-0001-6435-7066)
Year2014
Volume116
Issue4
Pages829-838
Publication date2014-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Anthropologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7294 • E-ISSN: 1548-1433
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/aman.12143
OpenAlexW2149513887
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited29

The suddenness with which Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, sprang upon us left many within the academy grasping for interpretations. Early proponents touted them as revolutionary tools that could enhance on-campus learning while also making high-quality education accessible to a vast global population, reforming a malfunctioning university system, and producing new kinds of data on how people learn. Critics countered that behind this latest techno-utopian fad lurked an all-too-familiar conservative agenda to downsize the university; the global ambitions of a few elite, resource-rich schools; Silicon Valley corporate interests; and the disciplinary priorities of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (the STEM fields). With some critical distance, the eight scholars in this Vital Topics Forum draw upon their experiences as anthropologists involved in MOOCs and anthropologists doing studies of MOOCs to propel us beyond such facile responses. Doing what anthropologists do best, they employ contextually rich analysis to upend received wisdom about what MOOCs mean, provide processual accounts of how they are made, and offer first-hand observations of how students are using them on the ground.

Art history · Citation · Library science · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Computer Science · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · History · Social and Cultural Dynamics