Mobile and Accessible Learning for MOOCs

Many modern web-based systems provide a "responsive" design that allows material and services to be accessed on mobile and desktop devices, with the aim of providing "ubiquitous access." Besides offering access to learning materials such as podcasts and videos across multiple locations, mobile, wearable and ubiquitous technologies have some additional affordances that may enable new forms of learning on MOOCs. We can divide these into two categories: firstly, "context-sensitive features" including delivery of content for a specific location, enabling a seamless continuity of learning across settings, and linking people in a location with others in a virtual representation of that place; secondly social learning opportunities to connect people as they move within and across locations, to enable "crowd-sourced learning." In this paper we explore these aspects of mobile and accessible learning for MOOCs, drawing on examples from MOOC courses, mobile toolkits, and crowd-sourced learning sites.