This page is intended to serve as a central resource for information regarding “Understanding Media by Understanding Google,” the massively open online course (MOOC) that I taught on behalf of Northwestern and Medill on Coursera in the fall of 2013. (It also should help me to locate things myself, and will be updated as needed. Current version: May 1, 2014)

My articles elsewhere on the Web:

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 12/13/2013: “To measure a MOOC’s value, just ask students.” Reflections on the balance of educating and credentialing.

Quartz, 11/21/2013: “How two-thirds of my students never showed up, but half of them passed.” (Cross-posted by The Atlantic as “Thousands of People Sign Up for Online Classes They Never Wind Up Taking.”) An attempt to assess what huge MOOC enrollments might actually represent, with input from my students.

The Guardian, 10/17/2013: “Massive open online courses: a first report card.” Some reflections on the first three weeks of teaching and observing.

Huffington Post, 9/13/2013: “Top 10 Misconceptions About MOOCs.” What I learned in getting ready to teach the course, which launched Sept. 16.

My posts here on “The next miracle”:

Dec. 9, 2013: After the MOOC So what have I been doing since this course ended, anyway? Writing and data mining, not necessarily in that order.

Oct. 21, 2013: So is it lonely in MOOClandia? An on-campus “meetup,” and a midcourse survey of participates, spur some thoughts on the creation of community among students around the world.

Sept. 28, 2013: #googlemedia: The statusphere weighs in Using Storify, a selection of early tweets and status updates from students over the first two weeks.

Sept. 13, 2013: Hearing MOOC-steps, worldwide Using a map to visualize the worldwide distribution of enrolled students.

Sept. 5, 2013: The MOOC-ing finger writes, and then updates the data: By now, 3,000 people had taken the pre-course survey, and a couple of data points had changed from my first post on the topic (next link).

April 13, 2013: Who signs up for a MOOC, and why?: High-level analysis of a pre-course survey of about 1,000 early registrants.

March 24, 2013: Medill, MOOCs, and me: Eight questions I asked myself about why I should give MOOCs a try.

Others write about the course:

Searle Center for Advancing Learning & Teaching, 2/7/2014: “An interview with Owen Youngman, MOOC pioneer.” Comments directed at faculty and pedagogically inclined audiences.

Northwestern Business Review, 11/24/2013: “Medill’s First MOOC Reaches Students from Around the World.” Student publication interviews me after the grades are final.

The Daily Northwestern, 10/2/2013: “Northwestern begins online education initiatives.” An interview with the student newspaper’s Web editor, two weeks in.

Knight Foundation Blog, 9/13/2013: “More than 41,000 Sign Up for Northwestern U’s media MOOC.” A question-and-answer session with the Foundation’s Marie Gilot.

Northwestern press release, 9/9/2013: A look at the first two MOOCs to launch, mine and that of Todd Murphey from the McCormick School.

Course home page, March 2013: The page within Coursera’s “course catalog” where students could express their interest in possibly taking the course. Also available on YouTube, linked below.

Video:

WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, 9/16/2013: “Northwestern Launches First MOOC.” An interview with Phil Ponce on the day that the six-week-long course officially opened.

Course promotional video, June 2013: Meet my short green teaching assistant.