Use of MOOC and Local Community Learning Groups as a Strategy for Faculty Professional Development

Resumen

Keeping faculty up to date in their fields of specialization is a
difficult task for colleges and universities. From budgetary to time allocating
factors, faculties are limited on the courses they can attend. In this regard,
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) stand as a sound alternative for
professional development, as they allow overcoming some of the difficulties
related to on-site courses. The paper presents a non-exhaustive list of MOOC
providers that offer free courses and includes a brief discussion of their main
features. It discusses a strategy for obtaining the most benefits from MOOC by
means of Community Learning Groups and presents the results of a first
experience of its application.