Much of the literature and the academic discussion about institutional strategic planning of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) has been centred on the U.S. context. Literature on MOOCs in Europe is still developing and just recently some empirical studies were conducted.However, these studies are not comparable, and it is hard to learn about differences between regions and types of educational institutions. Given the very different institutional, political and cultural contexts, it is interesting to analyse how in these two different regions Higher Education institutions (HEIs) are responding to the challenges of the MOOC phenomena and are integrating it in their own strategic planning. The current research presents the first attempt to conduct a comparative study of institutional MOOC strategies in Europe and U.S. It is based on a survey launched by the EU-funded HOME project and compares results with a similar survey conducted in U.S. Results show that there are significant differences in how the U.S. and European HEIs understand the impact of massive open education and also how they perceive the efficiency of digital education and online learning.

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement is the latest "big thing" in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). MOOCs offer both opportunities and threats that are extensively discussed in the literature, including the potential of opening up education for all at a global scale. 21On the other hand, MOOCs challenge traditional pedagogy and raise important questions about the future of campus-based education. However, in discussing these opportunities and threats the majority of the literature tends to focus on the origin of the MOOC movement in the United States (US). The specific context of Europe with its diversity of languages, cultural environments, educational policies, and regulatory frameworks differs substantially from the US context. Accordingly, this article offers a European perspective on MOOCs in order to better understand major differences in threats and opportunities across countries and continents, including the use and reuse of MOOCs for regional or global use, via European or non-European platforms. In the context of the EU funded HOME project (Higher education Online: MOOCs the European way), a research initiative was undertaken to identify opportunities and threats of the MOOC movement for European higher education institutions. Three sources of data were gathered and analysed.Opportunities and threats were categorized into two levels. The macro level comprises issues related to the higher education system, European context, historical period, and institutional concerns. The micro level covers aspects related to faculty, teachers, and courses, thus to the operational level. The main opportunities discovered were: the ECTS as a robust system for formal recognition of accomplishments in MOOCs; the trend for institutional collaboration, stimulated by EU-funded programs; and the many innovative and alternative pedagogical models used in MOOCs published in Europe. The main threats mentioned were: implementation problems of the ECTS, difficulties in bridging non/informal and formal education; and too much regulation, hindering experimentation and innovation.

Abstract:The hype surrounding MOOCs has been tempered by scepticism about the quality of MOOCs. The possible flaws of MOOCs include the quality of the pedagogies employed, low completion rates, and a failure to deliver on the promise of inclusive and equitable quality education for all. On the other hand, MOOCs have given a boost to open and online education, have become a symbol of a larger modernisation agenda for universities, and are perceived as tools for universities to improve the quality of blended and online education, both in degree education and Continuous Professional Development. MOOC provision is also much more open to external scrutiny as part of a stronger globalising higher education market. This has important consequences for quality frameworks and quality processes that go beyond the individual MOOC. In this context different quality approaches are discussed, including possible measures at different levels and the tension between product and process models. Two case studies are described, one at the institutional level (The Open University) and one at a MOOC platform level (FutureLearn), and how they intertwine is discussed. The importance of a national or international quality framework which carries with it a certification or label is illustrated with the OpenupEd Quality label. Both the label itself and its practical use are described in detail. The examples will illustrate that MOOCs require quality assurance processes tailored to e-learning and open education, embedded in institutional frameworks. The increasing unbundling of educational services may require additional quality processes.

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Abstract:Since mid 2000 in the Netherlands full teacher qualification can be obtained in real life training trajectories 'on the job', by means of a tri-partite contract between a teacher (trainee), the school where the teacher/trainee will be working/learning and a teacher training institute. The Ruud de Moor Centre (RdMC, Open University of the Netherlands) was established to support these trajectories on the job, especially by means of ICT based distance learning and support. Like all real life learners these teacher trainees form a heterogeneous group, which requires a highly tailored approach for learning and support. Such a tailored approach not only has to take into account personal characteristics of the trainees, but also the working/learning contexts that differ from school to school. Tailoring includes (but is not limited to) personalisation and contextualisation of content delivery, adapting presentation modes and individualising user support. This imposes severe constraints on the organisation and management of the learning materials and on delivery modes. Adequate metadata, conceptual structures for organisation and processing of knowledge, proper search tools and engines for information retrieval are requested. The RdMC is developing a flexible and modular system architecture as well as a data model, with emphasis on didactic potency, enabling design and delivery of tailored learning and learner support on the job.