CCK09 – MOOC

About a year ago, the CCK08 course was labeled as a massive open online course (MOOC) by some. As people prepare for CCK09 in September, I wonder if it'll be more or less "massive" than last year. And what makes a course "massive"? How many participants need to sign up or participate that warrants a name like MOOC?

What's more important is the course design in that there are many entry points to choose from as an active participant. The level of participation can vary as well, that is it's open as each person can decide how much time to invest. Except for a few credit-seeking students, the only thing that resembles a "course" really is the fact there are beginning and ending dates. Actually, a MOOC is more like an open, online workshop, and this year it appears that it might even resemble various workshops in that various online conferences are planned to be implemented. Thus, a "MOOC" ends up becoming a different thing for different people which bears the question, Is there a more accurate name for this type of learning experience?

Other interesting notions that come to mind in getting started with CCK09:

• How many participants who signed up for CCK09 also signed up for CCK08?
• How many participants who actively participated in CCK08, also actively participated in CCK09? (however one decides to define "active participation")
• How many participants continued their learning of the content from the end of CCK08 to the beginning of CCK08? What content in particular did they focus on and how was this achieved?
• Is a 12-week presentation and discussion of CCK-related content the best way to conduct interactions? Another option is to create an infrastructure (say Google Wave when it's up-and-running) that promotes ongoing dialog on the topic.