MOOCs Forum: The public venue for sharing and shaping developments in massive open online courses

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com) announces the launch of MOOCs Forum (http://www.liebertpub.com/mooc) to serve as the host and chronicle for discussions, debates, announcements, and advancements for all issues and constituents in the Massive Open Online Courses community. The Journal will be published in print and online with Open Access options.

Multidisciplinary in scope, MOOCs Forum will be the public venue for examining key issues paramount to the success of MOOCs such as increasing course completion rates, course content and examination security, student identification, successful business models, and all evolving topics related to the field.

The Editor-in-Chief of MOOCs Forum is Jack M. Wilson, PhD, President Emeritus, the University of Massachusetts and Distinguished Professor of Higher Education, Emerging Technologies, and Innovation. Widely considered a thought leader, and sometimes critic, for MOOCs, Wilson was recently the keynote speaker at the University of Pennsylvania Higher Education Leadership Conference: Innovation in an Era of Disruptive Change, as well as delivering two keynotes on MOOCs at the recent annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Wilson states, "The sudden attention garnered by MOOCs is evidence of the rapidly changing environment for higher education. Over the last 10 years online learning and other technology driven innovations have begun a transformation of post-secondary education. Online enrollments passed 6 million in 2010 and were nearing 7 million by the end of 2011. MOOCs have attracted audiences of over 100,000 in a single course, but face challenges in retaining students to completion."

Key members of the Editorial Board include: Eren Bali, Udemy; Tom Do, Coursera; John Flores, United States Distance Learning Association; Nish Sonwalkar, MIT; Phil DiSalvio, University of Massachusetts, Boston; and Peter Lange, Duke University.

Company founder and CEO Mary Ann Liebert comments, "MOOCs are an important and growing resource with great promise to improve the education and consequently the quality of life for people everywhere. This Forum will accelerate the development, acceptance, and use of MOOCs by universities and their students, employers and employees, as well people committed to continuous learning around the world."

Provided by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc