MOOCs and LMX? Surveying the Intersections Between Massive Open Online Courses and Leader-­Member Exchange Theory

By Maureen Guarcello. How does leadership intersect with massive open online courses (MOOCs)? I begin this entry by sharing that I dated MOOCs before my decision to marry blended learning in my research. That being said, I still have a warm place in my heart for the platform I consider to be an excellent way for institutions to showcase faculty and course content on a global stage. As a leadership studies scholar I have spent the lion's share of my doctoral program analyzing the ways blended learning and MOOCs intersect with leadership theory and practice...or if they do at all. Below is a segment of work I conducted around the idea that massive open online courses may include a leader-member exchange even with the extraordinary faculty/student ratios, seeming lack of formal authority and accountability, and distance between the "leader" in this case faculty, and the "followers" in this case students. More...