Enhancing learner-driven informal learning in a virtual practice community: The massive open online course (MOOC) as a learning solution for professional development

Summary

Professionals often need knowledge from unfamiliar domains, and traditional higher education and training are costly and slow ways to meet immediate needs. This chapter asks how MOOCs, used within online communities of practice, can support learner-driven informal learning for professional development, a connection the professional development literature had left largely unexamined.

It is a conceptual chapter built on a literature review and published cases rather than new data. We examine four components: informal learning practice, communities of practice, virtual environments and social media platforms, and MOOCs as digital learning content. What they share is an emphasis on social interaction, learner-driven practice, and informality. We then consider practice at the individual, organizational, and inter-organizational network levels, and discuss a MOOC-based professional development case for K-12 educators.

The chapter describes a model in which members of a learning community take different MOOCs, discuss what they learned with the group, and carry the ideas back to their own organizations. It closes with suggestions for applying MOOCs as a professional development strategy. The chapter was published in 2018.

Citation

Chae, C., Suh, B., Han, S.-H., Han, H., & Lim, D. H. (2018). Enhancing learner-driven informal learning in a virtual practice community: The massive open online course (MOOC) as a learning solution for professional development. In J. Keengwe (Ed.), Handbook of research on digital content, mobile learning, and technology integration models in teacher education (pp. 207–226). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2953-8.ch011

Citation

BibTeX citation:

@online{2018,
  author = {},
  title = {Enhancing Learner-Driven Informal Learning in a Virtual
    Practice Community: {The} Massive Open Online Course {(MOOC)} as a
    Learning Solution for Professional Development},
  date = {2018-01-01},
  url = {https://chadchae.github.io/posts_publication/2018-01-01-mooc-informal-learning-virtual-community/mooc-informal-learning-virtual-community.html},
  langid = {en}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

“Enhancing Learner-Driven Informal Learning in a Virtual Practice Community: The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) as a Learning Solution for Professional Development.” 2018. January 1, 2018. https://chadchae.github.io/posts_publication/2018-01-01-mooc-informal-learning-virtual-community/mooc-informal-learning-virtual-community.html.