Lately it
seems I’ve been spending every waking hour MOOCing. Some of you know by now I’m
a saxophonist, so you might surmise that MOOCing is a saxophone technique,
perhaps a spinoff of “honking.” When I was asked to do a MOOC by the
powers-that-be at Hamilton College, I was vaguely familiar with the term, as
two Hamilton professors had done MOOCs before me.
MOOC stands
for Massive Open Online Course, and it is an initiative
of an organization called edX. Hamilton College and many other
institutes of higher learning have embraced this new method of offering courses
to (basically) the world. The course is done totally online, and anyone can
enroll. There are no hurdles or applications to join in, and there is no cost
for taking the course. Our MOOC is called “Jazz: The Music, The Stories, The
Players,” and will launch on February 2, 2016. It will run for six consecutive
weeks.
MOOCing has
been an unexpected challenge for me. My comfort level with computer technology
is nonexistent. Fortunately, I have a highly trained creative team from
Hamilton’s Library and Instructional Technology Services working with me.
Still, the hands-on activities I have used previously in workshops are not
available to me in this online format. For decades I have worked with both
musicians and non-musicians teaching concepts in jazz, blues and improvised
music. The one-on-one and group interaction has always been key to what I do.
While we have done some filming with small groups, the human interaction is not
the same, and I am being prodded into the 21st century. At the same
time, I am grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this new endeavor. I
often tease my students when I ask them to do something new: “it builds
character” I say. I should have a lot of character by the time this project is
over.
Click here for information about our MOOC. I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s
aimed at both musicians and casual listeners, and includes material from our
jazz archive interviews.
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