Anyone who follows education technology has probably heard plenty about the MOOC — a massive open online course often hosted by a well known university that is available to anyone with an Internet connection, usually at no charge, but that does not typically result in college credit. The New York Times even called 2012 the “Year of the MOOC,” though Anant Agarwal, founder of the MIT-backed MOOC provider edX, told the Times he preferred to call it “the year of disruption.”
關(guān)注教育信息技術(shù)的人對(duì)MOOC一定不會(huì)陌生：所謂MOOC，是指由知名高校通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)媒介向廣大學(xué)子提供的大規(guī)模在線開放課程。大規(guī)模在線開放課程一般是免費(fèi)的，但完成課程不一定能得到校方的學(xué)分和認(rèn)證。《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》甚至將2012年稱為“大規(guī)模在線開放課程之年”。不過大規(guī)模在線開放課程供應(yīng)商edX的創(chuàng)建人、麻省理工大學(xué)教授阿納特·阿加瓦爾對(duì)此持有異議，他告訴《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》記者，他認(rèn)為將2012年稱為大規(guī)模在線開放課程“沖擊傳統(tǒng)教育的一年”。

That might be fitting among those who believe MOOCs have the potential to change the way people learn, even in regions where traditional higher education is a luxury (or even an impossibility). Students climbed quickly aboard the MOOC movement. According to the N.Y. Times, the Stanford-backed MOOC provider Coursera added more than 1.7 million students in its first year of existence, a growth rate co-founder Andre Ng boasted was “faster than Facebook.”
大規(guī)模在線開放課程獲得了許多支持者——甚至在那些將傳統(tǒng)高等教育視為一種奢侈品甚至幻想品的地區(qū)——他們相信MOOC將會(huì)改變?nèi)藗兊膶W(xué)習(xí)方式，見證著它對(duì)傳統(tǒng)教育的沖擊力。學(xué)子們很快對(duì)MOOC趨之若鶩。根據(jù)《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》報(bào)道，由斯坦福大學(xué)資助的MOOC供應(yīng)商Coursera在成立的第一年就吸納了超過170萬名學(xué)員。該公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)辦人之一吳恩達(dá)驕傲地說，這一增長率已經(jīng)“超過了臉書網(wǎng)”。

The MOOR: What is Massive Open Online Research?
MOOR：什么是“大規(guī)模在線公開研究”？

In September, the University of San Diego’s Jacob’s School of Engineering announced it was launching what it believed was the first major online course that featured a great deal of massive open online research, or MOOR, in addition to the usual coursework.
去年9月份，圣地亞哥大學(xué)的雅各布工程學(xué)院宣布發(fā)起了其第一門在線主修課程，該課程的特點(diǎn)是，在原本的課程結(jié)構(gòu)基礎(chǔ)上添加了強(qiáng)大的大規(guī)模在線公開課程研究性質(zhì)。

The course, called Bioinformatics Algorithms — Part 1, would be offered through Coursera and give students a chance to work on targeted research projects under the guidance of what Professor Pavel Pevzner called in a press release published on UCSD’s website “prominent bioinformatics scientists” from all across the globe.
這門在線課程的名稱為“生物信息學(xué)算法”，通過Coursera課程平臺(tái)向?qū)W生們開放，通過這門課程，學(xué)生們有機(jī)會(huì)在來自全球各地高校的“知名生物信息學(xué)家”——引用加利福尼亞大學(xué)圣迭戈分校官網(wǎng)上帕維爾·內(nèi)德維德的說法——的指導(dǎo)下完成有目的的實(shí)驗(yàn)項(xiàng)目。

“What sets us apart is combining research with a MOOC,” said Ph.D. student Phillip Compeau, who helped develop the online course. “The natural progression of education is for people to make a transition from learning to research, which is a huge jump for many students, and essentially impossible for students in isolated areas. By integrating the research with an interactive text and a MOOC, it creates a pipeline to streamline this transition.”
“我們課程的獨(dú)特之處在于，我們?cè)诖笠?guī)模在線課程的基礎(chǔ)上增加了研究的元素，” 據(jù)參與了該課程研發(fā)的博士生菲利普·康波如是說?！皬膶W(xué)習(xí)到研究，這既是教育的自然過程，也是許多學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)能力的質(zhì)的飛躍。由于地域的限制，許多學(xué)生難以完成做到這樣的轉(zhuǎn)變。而我們的課程通過大規(guī)模在線開放課程，互動(dòng)性課件與研究三者的結(jié)合，為學(xué)生實(shí)現(xiàn)從學(xué)習(xí)到研究的轉(zhuǎn)變創(chuàng)造了機(jī)會(huì)。”

In other words, a MOOR is essentially a MOOC, but with a major emphasis on research. It allows students from across the globe — in all their varied experiences and viewpoints — to work together in a very practical way, and education experts believes it has the potential to improve learning outcomes significantly.
換句話說，大規(guī)模在線開放研究本質(zhì)上即是一種以研究為重點(diǎn)的大規(guī)模在線開放課程。它讓全球各地的學(xué)員們共同參與學(xué)習(xí)研究，盡管他們的成長經(jīng)歷和思維模式各異。教育專家們相信，大規(guī)模在線開放研究將能夠顯著的提升學(xué)員的學(xué)習(xí)成果。