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MOOCs have been a fast-paced and well-publicized educational trend. Designing and delivering a MOOC is a time-intensive endeavor and as such requires careful consideration before becoming involved. Our public research university has yet to become a MOOC provider, but we have been pushed to consider what role our Instructional Systems program and faculty members might play should MOOCs become an institution-supported endeavor-or even as leaders or experimenters in this realm. We conducted a SWOT analysis focusing at the program level to assess the conditions related to designing and delivering a MOOC. Our findings show that reputational issues come heavily into play, as does the need for resources. We conclude that for a motivated faculty member who can identify sufficient personal rewards for the time expended on a MOOC, it may be worth the effort.

MOOC course offerings and enrollments continue to show an upward spiral with an increasing focus on completion rates. The completion rates of below 10 percent in MOOCs pose a serious challenge in designing effective pedagogical techniques and evolving assessment criterion for such a large population of learners. With more institutions jumping on the bandwagon to offer MOOCs, is completion rate the sole criterion to measure performance and learning outcomes in a MOOC? Learner interaction is central to knowledge creation and a key component of measuring learning outcomes in a MOOC. What are the alternate assessment techniques to measure performance and learning outcomes in a MOOC? MOOCs provide tremendous opportunity to explore emerging technologies to achieve learning outcomes. This chapter looks beyond the popularity of MOOCs by focusing on the assessment trends and analyzing their sustainability in the context of the MOOC phenomenon. The chapter continues the discussion on ‘ePedagogy and interactive MOOCs' relating to ‘performance measurement issues.'

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The annals of the Web have been a defining moment in the evolution of education and e-Learning. The evolution of Web 1.0 almost three decades ago has been a precursor to Web 3.0 that has reshaped education and learning today. The evolution to Web 3.0 has been synonymous with “Semantic Web” or “Artificial Intelligence” (AI). AI makes it possible to deliver custom content to the learners based on their learning behavior and preferences. As a result of these developments, the learners have been empowered and have at their disposal a range of Web tools and technology powered by AI to pursue and accomplish their learning goals. This chapter traces the evolution and impact of Web 3.0 and AI on e-Learning and its role in empowering the learner and transforming the future of education and learning. This chapter will be of interest to educators and learners in exploring techniques that improve the quality of education and learning outcomes.

Blood is the most common form of biological evidences that encounters in several types of crime i.e. murder, sexual assault/ rape, hit and run cases, tool marks or many types of heinous crime. But in most of the cases, blood on the clothing's or any nearby surfaces are washed off by the perpetrator/accused person in order to destroy the trail of evidences left behind him/her. The stains/doubtful spots are always examined for the presence of blood with the help of presumptive blood tests, such as benzidine test or phenolphthalein test. In this present study, 10 such samples of benzidine-tested cloth and a few blood droplets were lifted from the various surfaces. For DNA isolation, quantification and profiling; un-tested portion of same samples and their respective reference blood samples were collected. A comparative study was conducted between the DNA quantities of benzidine tested portion of samples along with DNA quantity of untested portion of the same samples. Now, all the DNA profiles were compared with the DNA profile obtained from their respective reference blood samples. As a resultant of this study, it was found that DNA profile was not affected by the benzidine test. However, minutiae difference in DNA quantity was observed.