Gates Foundation funds new research on MOOCs

By Brianna Goldberg. Three University of Toronto research teams are among the successful applicants in a competitive grant competition run by Athabasca University and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The teams will receive funding for their research into the experience of teachers and students of Massive Open Online Courses, commonly known as MOOCs, and the impact of this emerging field.
“A year ago when we started teaching our first course, MOOCs were quite new, but we've now moved to the point where we've taught the courses and we want to know if learners find them effective,” said Professor Jennifer Campbell, who teaches computer science at Uof T and has led two Learn to Program MOOCs. “It’s exciting to be able to use this new research to delve a bit deeper and see what’s going on.” More...