Discussion 1

EDCI - 887
Group A: Howida Moustafa, Majd Alomar, Rama Sadiq
Group Question: Question 1
Introduction
When we started our group discussion about MOOCs we felt that it is necessary to give a
definition and a brief description of the history and nature of the MOOC movement. Then
underlines our specific focus on issue of intellectual property within the course content.
MOOCs have become a major topic of discussion in education and distance education. The new
MOOCs have attracted a media frenzy mainly because they are similar to a traditional classroom
experience rather than merely sharing course material (Sun, 2013).
MOOCs defined as Massive Open Online Courses. Massive: students can enroll in any number
of courses.Open, the term open course might lead people to think that it is similar to open
source or open access. Actually it is different, especially with regards to intellectual
property. The term open in MOOC means that the courses are usually free and accessible for
anyone with internet access.
Online means classes are offered and delivered exclusively online. The Course is similar to any
traditional course in specific area of study with a syllabus, usually delivered in around 68 weeks
(Kernohan, 2013).
History and movement MOOCs
MOOCs were base on Connectivism theory, with consideration on the role of social and
cultural context in education (Sun,213). The old MOOCs model is very similar to a traditional
university class taught by the professors, although only few universities count MOOCs as a
credit. Attention came to MOOCs when the first class offered by Stanford univeristy of MOOCs
launched in fall 2011, and 100,000 students signed up for the course on Applied Machine
Learning (Sun,2013). Different question and argument raised about the quality of education
that MOOCs can offer.
MOOCs Content
Learning content in MOOCs are syllabuses, course policies, video lectures, reading resources
like any university classroom, automated formative assessment, students assignments and
responses, simple tests assignment sheets, quizzes, class activities, PowerPoint slides, writing
assignments, schedules and all of them certainly copyrighted but the question we should ask who
own this copy rights.
Intellectual Property
Many universities outsource their MOOCS to third-party hosts such as Coursera and Udacity.
The host provides the technical platform for the MOOC including the interface design and the
marketing and promotion of the MOOCs. Thus the host makes claims on the intellectual property
of the MOOC. Just like any new web-based phenomena MOOCs face many challenges including
intellectual property issues. The nature of these IP claims and the definition of what a course is
forms the basis of the IP licensing (Porter, 2013).
Early MOOCs used to operate under an open-access principle, however, the new version of
MOOCs provided by platforms like Coursera and edX, have been establishing fairly restrictive

copyright controls over the courses they offer (Porter, 2012 cited by Sun, 2013). Their policy
limits the users (students) usage of course material. Udacity, for example, in its Terms of
Service page outline a clear and strong copyright claim for all of the material in their courses.
All content or other material available on the Class Sites or through the Online Courses,
including but not limited to on-line lectures, speeches, video lessons, quizzes,
presentation materials, homework assignments, programming assignments, programs,
code, and other images, text, layouts, arrangements, displays, illustrations, documents,
materials, audio and video clips, HTML and files (collectively, the Content), are the
property of Udacity and/or its affiliates or licensors and are protected by copyright, patent
and/or other proprietary intellectual property rights under United States and foreign law.
(Udacity, 2013)
However, students who are largely involved in creating learning materials in MOOCs due to the
collaborative nature of the course, are not protected by copyright or intellectual property law.
The same page in Udacity also states:
You hereby grant Udacity an irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free and nonexclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and
publicly display such User Content on the Class Sites or in the Online Courses or
otherwise exploit the User Content, with the right to sublicense such rights (to multiple
tiers), for any purpose (including for any commercial purpose). (Udacity, 2013)
These restrictive IP policies make claims on faculty and student copyrights that universities
typically do not claim (Porter, 2013). This leads us to question the nature of these claims and
whether or not it will affect the dynamic between students, the university/professor and the
platform in which the course is provided. Sun (2013) thinks it is up to speculation on how this
might influence the education itself.
Conclusion
As the revolution of technology is running ahead in every field of our life , We think that
technology will remain ahead of policy and laws. It is important for universities and faculty who
plan to provide a MOOC especially through a third-party provider to be aware of the intellectual
property claims of these providers.
Reference
Anderson, T. (Ed.). (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. Athabasca University
Press.
Anglin, G. J. (1995). Instructional technology: Past, present, and future. Libraries Unlimited,
Inc., PO Box 6633, Englewood, CO, 80155-6633.
Kernohan, D. (2013). Content that talks back: what does the MOOC explosion mean for content
management?. Insights: the UKSG journal, 26(2), 198-203.
Legal. (n.d.). Udacity. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from https://www.udacity.com/legal
Porter, J. E. (2013). MOOCs,Courses, and the Question of Faculty and Student Copyrights.
The CCCC-IP Annual: Top Intellectual Property Developments of 2012, 2.

Sun, Y. (2013). MOOC: A University Learning Experience without the Degree. Retrieved online
at: https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/cctp-748-spring2013/2013/05/06/mooc-a-universitylearning-experience-without-the-degree/