Ed Startup 101

In the spirit of broadening the massive, ubiquitous learning networks we stuff under the MOOC umbrella, I present Ed Startup 101, a MOOC (labeled as such by its creators, though they make sure to define it outside of that auspice) designed around the ingredients and considerations for people interested in the world of Educational Technology start-ups.

I first became aware of Ed Startup 101 through following Richard Culatta on Twitter. I met Mr. Culatta in March at the Department of Educational Technology as part of a contingent from Pepperdine University. We had a group discussion for an hour, and I had a few minutes at the end to ask Mr. Culatta several questions.

NaNoWriMo & the MOOC Relationship

National Novel Writing Month, known colloquially as NaNoWriMo, starts today and runs through the month of November, encouraging participants to write 50,000 words toward a novel.  This is the 14th year of NaNoWriMo, and the number of registered participants has grown from 21 “overcaffeinated yahoos” to more than a quarter of a million in 2011.  And while media buzz for NaNoWriMo continues to grow, its press popularity dwarfs that of other massive online learning environments, specifically MOOCs.  

Once Upon a Time There Were Bound Texts: Big Media, Little Media – Part 1

One of my great frustrations in researching the MOOC movement is the extended lack of ancestry or theory provided by seminal thinkers, pundits or researchers.  From reading existing lit, one would assume when God and Adam were creating the animals out of dust, they created the MOOC too.

Big Media, Little Media is a 1977 book from a collection on “People and Communication,” this entry written by Wilbur Schramm.  Its purpose is to evaluate the use of various media (radio, film, picture, multimedia) in various modes of education (formal, informal, classroom, distance).  It provides an excellent historical account of the use of various media throughout the documented history of education, and its vision of the future is ominous considering the book is 35 years old.