The Adoption of Cloud-Based Tools in Mooc Settings - Advantages and Challenges

Resumo

MOOCs have become a widely used form of online education offering open education. Cloud-based tools are broadly used for business and private purposes and can also enrich learning experiences and engage learners. In this paper, we pursue the original ideal of c-MOOCs and explore the advantages and issues – on both the teaching and the technological dimensions - of using cloud-based tools in a MOOC setting. To this end we have conducted research as part of the MOOC Maker project combining a literature survey and the instrument of questionnaires among the project partners. Our findings reveal advantages, such as enlarging the variety of learning activities and outsourcing of services. The drawbacks include security and privacy issues plus the effort involved in administering several external tools.