Posthumanism and the Massive Open Online Course

"A much needed critical examination on MOOCs through the lens of humanism and educational philosophy has been conducted and described eloquently by Jeremy Knox. Anyone who wants to have a closer look at the intricate and somewhat paradoxical nature of todays MOOCs experiment in higher education will greatly appreciate this timely work." --Paul Kim, Chief Technology Officer and Assistant Dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, USA "Drawing on posthumanist and new materialist approaches, Knox breaks with utopian MOOC narratives, challenging readers to consider not only what it means to educate the masses but also what it means to be a student and what it means to be an educational sitequestioning whether most MOOCs, despite the hype, have merely privileged the orthodoxy of established educational frameworks. Knox offers a thorough consideration of the technopedagogical systems that purport to serve a universal communityproviding an in-depth exploration of the evolution of educational philosophy and aspirations of MOOC providerselucidating long standing Western educational ideals and models as a way to better understand the future design and delivery of education to a diverse audience." --Karen J. Head, Ph.D., Director of The Communication Center and Assistant Professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at The Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and Editor of Southern Discourse in the Center: A Journal of Multiliteracy and Innovation "Jeremy Knox provides a refreshingly critical take on a high-profile area of educational innovation which has been generally under-theorised. He does not shy away from addressing the big questions surrounding massive open education, and in doing so he tackles with insight and clarity the shifting terrain of higher education itself." --Sin Bayne, Professor of Digital Education in the Moray House School of Education at the University of Edinburgh, UK

Jeremy Knox is Lecturer in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, UK, where he designed, developed, and taught the pioneering MOOC 'E-learning and Digital Cultures'.

Preface List of Figures Introduction The Massive Open Online Course MOOC structures MOOC Reactions: disrupting and making sense Chapter 1: (Post)Humanism and Education Introduction Humanism Humanism and education Critical Posthumanism New Materialism Rethinking Educational Dualisms Posthuman knowledge and the (non)representational Conclusions Chapter 2: Masters of the Universal: MOOC Education and the Globe Introduction Humanism and colonialism The Corporate World of the MOOC World-leaning MOOC research The MOOC Platform Conclusions Chapter 3: Colonising Communities and Domesticating Data Introduction Immunizing communities and the anthropological machine Measuring MOOC communities Identifying participants and categorising participation Connectivism and community Lurking and the tyranny of participation The Personal Learning Network Individualism in the connectivist MOOC Conclusions Chapter 4: Housing the MOOC: Space and Place in ModPo Introduction Modern and Contemporary American Poetry Spatiality and Mobilities Theory The House of Possibility The Kelly Writers House Tour Other voices, other rooms: power and potency in the ModPo fora The immutable mobile of MOOC pedagogy Conclusions Chapter 5: Monstrous Openings in the EDCMOOC Introduction The E-learning and Digital Cultures MOOC The Monstrous Outside of bounded educational space Calls for cohesive community Outside of the humanist subject Conclusions Conclusion Summarising Posthumanism and the MOOC Suggestions for MOOC practice, pedagogy and research In closing Index