The Operating Mechanism And Enlightenment Of MOOC In American Universities

The reason why American university can be the “leader” of MOOC in the world is inseparable from its operating mechanism. The paper mainly focuses on researching opportunities and challenges, internal operating mechanism and external supporting mechanism of American University through documentary study and comparison method. According to compare with MOOC's development in Chinese university, it aims to find merits of MOOC's development in American university, put them in MOOC's development of Chinese university and pays more attention to challenges of MOOC's development in American university.Currently, American university has many opportunities in develop MOOC including reducing educational cost and admission fees, improving university reputation, accelerating the implement of open education in university and construction of a learning society, innovating teaching modes and scientific research, diversifying evaluation methods, customizing personalized learning and broadening admission channels. They not only make American university attach great importance to MOOC's development, but also are developing directions.MOOC in American university has a sound internal operating mechanism from management, developing curriculum,teaching and learning system and interior assurance system. Decision-making department guides its direction, MOOC management department regulates and controls its development and teachers play the key role in its teaching and learning. Based on different subjects, teachers choose different teaching method. Teachers are subjectivity of curriculum design, students are subjectivity of learning, the former should be serving for the latter.MOOC in American university also has a reliable and all-sided external supporting mechanism. Government offers supports through supplying funds, sites, experts and laws. Social institution provides fund, time, experience, sites and technology. MOOC platform as the most comprehensive and forceful external support platform of American university to develop MOOC, it not only offer money, technicians to university but also promote credits docking, develop big data, improve academic integrity, quality of MOOC and cooperation between university and enterprise. These three instititions work together to construct a reliable and all-sided external supporting mechanism of MOOC in American university.MOOC is still in the phase of exploring and innovating and has a few space from stable developing phase. Therefore it also has many challenges such as lack of sustainability, doubt on academic integrity, credits and certificates docking between MOOC and traditional universities, low learner retention and study completion rates, poor self-learning ability and different cultural background of learners.Although our university has made a great improvement in develop MOOC, it still has many problems on operating mechanism. We should learn from operating mechanism of MOOC in American university to make a compete and sustainable internal operating mechanism and a reliable external one. Meanwhile, we must be positive to meet challenges and maintain a sense of crisis all the time.