Once more, MOOCs teach us what we knew already

(photo credit: clemsonunivlibrary on flickr.com)

The headline in the Chronicle of Higher Education reads "Passive MOOC Students Don't Retain New Knowledge, Study Finds".  To quote the article:

The researchers suggested that when planning courses for professionals, MOOC providers should develop engaging coursework that requires peer interaction and immediate use of new knowledge.

So, do the following mental experiment - take out the word "MOOC" and the words "for professionals" and change "providers" to "instructors" and you get:

... when planning courses, instructors should develop engaging coursework that requires peer interaction and immediate use of new knowledge.

That's time-tested advice, consistent with what we know about cognitive psychology and learning theory, that's been around for a long time before anyone coined the acronym "MOOC".