MOOCs and museums: Not such strange bedfellows

Abstract

In April 2013, The Museum of Modern Art entered into a partnership with MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) provider Coursera to offer professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers all over the world. Since entering into that partnership, MoMA has developed two MOOCs: Art and Inquiry: Museum Teaching Strategies for Your Classroom and Art and Activity: Interactive Strategies for Engaging With Art. Together, these two courses served more than 60,000 students over 15 months. This article is a combination case study and personal reflection about developing and facilitating MoMA’s first MOOC.