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NIU’s first ‘MOOC’ enjoys successful conclusion

Northern Illinois University’s first-ever Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) – Perspectives on Disability [1] – came to a successful close Nov. 17, NIU Today reports.

Led by Presidential Teaching Professor Greg Long [2] of the School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders [3], the 10-week experience  was a streamlined version of the for-credit AHRS 200 [4], a general education course titled, “Disability in Society.”

The free MOOC emphasized personal, philosophical, sociological, psychological, medical and legal perspectives about living with disabilities.

It included more than 55 closed-captioned video segments across 10 lessons [5], covering issues related to disability and media, language, stereotypes, education, community living and adaptation.

The course featured the work of more than 50 undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty and staff from several colleges and majors at NIU.

… Participants who completed the MOOC were very positive about the experience as well.

“It is gratifying to read the reflections of the participants,” Long said. “They found the videos and resources to be beneficial, particularly the real-life stories shared by our guest speakers. A number of them said that seeing and hearing the speakers helped them better understand and adapt to their own disabilities.”

Read more [6]