I’ve been posting about MOOCs since they first appeared. Easy to get lost in the trees and forget to see the forest. So I look at this TED presentation about once a month to get a refresh on the basic reasons why MOOCs are so important. The message gets lost too often in the static of the various media pundits and education gurus who, having very little if anything to do creating and developing MOOCs, still feel obliged to weigh in on them.

Daphne Koller is one of the original and most articulate visionaries behind MOOCs. Every time I watch this I pick up a new idea as well as remembering some of the basic reasons why MOOCs are important and are here to stay.

MOOCs are a work-in-progress. How they end up looking and working is To Be Determined. Like anything new with education they are still in the early stages of their evolution. I recently heard a mother tell her son that a MOOC was not worth taking since they were “… still experimental”. A MOOC is no more experimental than a college lecture hall presentation by professor. And that may be the sticking point … but don’t worry it’s covered by the presentation.