Ever heard of a MOOC? MOOCs are Massive Open Online Courses. “Massive” means thousands of people may register for the same section of the course. “Open” means that they are free. No tuition. No fees. Just sign on. “Online” means that the courses are completely asynchronous and offered online. There are no face-to-face class meetings, no set time or day to meet, just check in regularly to participate. A minimum requirement is access to a high-speed broadband Internet connection. The “courses” are varied and are being offered by universities, public and private, big and small, around the country as well as some Internet businesses specializing in online education, some of which have gone into business just to support MOOCs.

The catch? There is no credit, no credential, no transcript, no college degree, no traditional means of demonstrating mastery of the knowledge and skills gained in the course. So MOOCs become a great means of professional or personal development but cannot be used to earn a college degree. However, there are also creative options being developed to help those who successfully complete a MOOC to demonstrate their competency in the subject matter. One option is called a “badge.” One may earn a “badge” by completing a particular module and passing a test or other activity that demonstrates mastery of the topic. Badges are much like continuing education units (CEUs) that many professionals earn for each hour they participate in a professional development workshop or conference. One big difference is that CEUs are awarded for seat time while badges are awarded for demonstrating mastery of a topic.

Some individuals who have successfully completed a MOOC are petitioning colleges and universities to award them credit for the course through taking and passing challenge exams from credit courses similar to the MOOC they took, or putting together a portfolio to demonstrate their prior learning achievements. Colleges and universities are working to develop policies and procedures to respond to these requests.

Where do you find information about MOOCs? Start by Googling MOOC. You will find many articles about what they are and who is offering what. Harvard, MIT, and Penn State are just a few of the universities offering MOOCs. Some of the companies that are also offering MOOCs include Coursera, EdX, Udacity, Kahn Academy, Peer to Peer University, and many more. You can also google a particular topic and see if there are any MOOCs being offered for that topic.

What happens if you don’t finish the course? Not to worry. Most courses start out with thousands of registrants but only about 10 percent or less actually finish the course and fewer than that take all the tests and do all the assignments. So you can sign up, participate as much or as little as you want, get a taste of what a MOOC is like and decide if it works for you. One caution, don’t judge all online courses by what you will find in a MOOC. Due to the massive size of the enrollment, there are limitations to the teaching strategies that can be employed. But for a risk-free adventure in online learning that just might provide information you didn’t know and expand your thinking and learning opportunities, check out a MOOC.

 Sue McCullough is director of the University of Maine Frederick E. Hutchinson Center Center and associate dean, Division of Lifelong Learning