A Small Private Online Course (SPOC) refers to a version of a MOOC (
Massive Open Online Course
A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, m ...
) used locally with on-campus students.
University of California Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
Professor Armando Fox coined the word in 2013 to refer to a localized instance of a MOOC course that was in use in a business-to-business context. In this regard SPOCs are focused on certain groups of students, which are qualified to take the course and ready to interact with others throughout the learning process. Even though most institutions do not yet award formal recognition of SPOCs, Robert Lue, who runs HarvardX, the university’s digital arm, says that it is becoming more likely that prestigious universities begin to create SPOCs for course-credits.
Use in blended/flipped classroom learning
SPOCs support
blended learning
Norm Friesen (born March 21, 1966) is Professor in Educational Technology at Boise State University.
Norm Friesen studied German Literature, Secondary Education, and Communication at the Johns Hopkins University, University of Alberta and Simon Fr ...
and
flipped classroom
A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning, which aims to increase student engagement and learning by having pupils complete readings at home and work on live problem-solving during class time. This pedagogic ...
learning, which variously combine online resources and technology with personal engagement between faculty and students. Early research results point to improved learning and student outcomes using such approaches.
In spring 2013,
edX and
MITx
MITx is the massive open online course (MOOC) program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A constituent program of MIT's Office of Digital Learning, MITx produces MOOCs from MIT departments and faculty. Prior to 2U's acquisition of edX, MI ...
piloted two blended classroom implementations of 6.00x, Introduction to Computer Science and Programing at Bunker Hill and
Mass Bay Community College
Massachusetts Bay Community College (MassBay) is a public community college in Norfolk and Middlesex Counties. Founded in 1961, MassBay currently serves more than 4,400 full-time and part-time students on its three locations: Wellesley, Ashlan ...
s. The program was funded as part of a
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...
grant. Students enrolled in the pilot courses completed the same exams as the 6.00x MOOC students, and scored an average of 10 points higher than their MOOC peers.
When a SPOC is implemented at an institution, in concert with students, faculty determines which features and course content to utilize. This can include video lectures, assessments (with immediate feedback), interactive labs (with immediate feedback) and
discussion forums
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
used in MOOCs. Using MOOC technology allows the faculty to organize their time with students in different ways, such as allowing more time in class for project-based work instead of grading assignments or preparing lectures. SPOCs have been analogized to “next generation textbooks,” by allowing faculty to decide how to use some or all parts of the SPOC. In a SPOC as in a MOOC students typically access interactive content at their own pace. Instructors set their own grading scale.
Colleges and universities can create SPOCs, or license them. In the latter instance, a SPOC might give the instructor an opportunity to deliver the material directly to students using video delivered by another expert, instead of assigning an article to read.
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
announced SPOCs for its curriculum in the fall of 2013. Unlike MOOCs, SPOCs have limited enrollment and are often used as part of a course for credit.
BBC News - Harvard plans to boldly go with 'Spocs'
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References
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Educational technology
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