MOOC are the initials of the English Massive Open Online Course ( Online Course Open and Massif , the literal translation into Portuguese), and consists of a course model that uses Web tools to help a lot of people to expand their knowledge while , on certain subjects.
Courses that follow the MOOC model are intended for anyone who wants to enhance their knowledge of a particular subject or learn something new.Based on the connectivity provided by the internet, MOOC students can be anywhere on the planet, learning through the principles of so-called “distance education” and “open education”, which aims at free access to learning opportunities such as content Creative Commons , for example.
Another feature that differs from the traditional MOOC courses is their scalability, that is, the indetermination of the minimum and maximum number of enrolled students so that the course can begin. Traditional courses, for example, require a fixed number of stakeholders so that they can be started.
To participate in the MOOC’s it is not compulsory for the student to be enrolled in any university or college, nor to pay fees, because in principle, they are totally free.The idea of the MOOC was born in 2008 in Canada, but only in 2012 the concept became popular, and it was consecrated as the “Year of the MOOC”.
