mooc

IPA/muːk/
IPA/muːk/

mooc — noun

  • moocsingular
  • moocsplural

1. a type of class that is offered online for free or at low cost and is designed s

1.nounB1
Definition

a type of class that is offered online for free or at low cost and is designed so that thousands of students can join from anywhere in the world. The word is an abbreviation whose four letters stand for the main features of this kind of course.

Example

Adina enrolled in a mooc on climate change offered by a university in Sweden.

verb collocation: enroll in a mooc

After finishing the mooc on data science, Lakshmi received a certificate of completion.

completion structure: finish a mooc + receive certificate

Common collocations
  • enroll in / sign up for a mooc
  • take / do / finish a mooc
  • offer / create / develop a mooc
  • mooc platform
  • mooc provider
  • mooc certificate
Synonyms
  • online course

    broader term; not all online courses are free or open to unlimited numbers

  • open course

    focuses on the no-entry-barrier aspect but does not specify online delivery

  • distance-learning course

    emphasises the remote aspect; may be paid and limited in size

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

a/the mooc

mooc + noun (modifier)

Usage Note

Used as a countable noun: 'a mooc', 'two moocs', 'the mooc'. Frequently appears as a modifier before another noun — for example, 'mooc platform', 'mooc provider', 'mooc certificate'.

Common Mistakes

I signed up for a MOOC course.
I signed up for a mooc.
The 'C' in MOOC already stands for 'course', so adding 'course' is redundant.
The mooc had only ten students.
Moocs are designed for large numbers of learners.
By definition a mooc is massive; a small class is not a mooc.

Word family

  • massive open online course
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A mooc (massive open online course) is a specific type of online course that is free or very cheap and open to unlimited participants. An 'online course' is any course delivered via the internet — it may cost money and have a cap on enrollment, making it broader than a mooc. An 'open course' stresses the free-to-join aspect but does not imply online delivery or massive scale. A 'distance-learning course' may involve mailed materials and scheduled exams, not just online access. An 'in-person class' is the opposite: held in a physical room, limited to the seats available. For example, a university might offer a mooc on Python programming that 50,000 people join worldwide, while the same school's in-person Python class seats only 30 students.

online courseopen coursedistance-learning coursein-person class

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • take a mooc
  • enroll in a mooc
  • offer a mooc
  • finish a mooc

Prepositions

  • in (a mooc)
  • on (a subject)

Etymology

English

Mooc (sometimes written MOOC) is an acronym invented in 2008 by Canadian educators Dave Cormier and Bryan Alexander. It stands for 'Massive Open Online Course' — each word describes a key feature: massive (unlimited enrollment), open (free to all), online (delivered via the internet), and course (a structured program of study).