Small private online course

A Small Private Online Course (SPOC) refers to a version of a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) used locally with on-campus students. University of California -Berkeley Professor Armando Fox first coined the word in 2013 to refer to a localized instance of a MOOC course that was in use in a business-to-business context.

Use in Blended and Flipped Classroom Learning

SPOCs support a current trend in education known as blended learning. Blended learning, sometimes called hybrid learning or flipped classroom learning, combines online resources and technology with the personal engagement between faculty and students that in-classroom teaching provides. Early research results point to improved learning and student outcomes using this blended model. For example, in spring 2013, edX and MITx piloted two blended classroom implementations of 6.00x, Introduction to Computer Science and Programing at Bunker Hill and Mass Bay Community Colleges in the Boston area. The program was funded as part of a grant received from the Gates Foundation. Students enrolled in the pilot blended courses completed the same exams as the 6.00x MOOC students, and scored an average of 10 points higher than their MOOC peers. When a SPOC is implemented at an institution, faculty determines which features and course content to utilize with their students. This can include video lectures, assessments (usually with instant feedback), interactive labs (usually with instant feedback), and discussion forums used in MOOCsMOOC. Using the MOOC technology allows the faculty to use their time with students in different ways, such as allowing for more time in class for hands-on project-based work instead of grading weekly assignments or developing and preparing weekly lectures. SPOCs have been analogized to “next generation textbooks,” by allowing faculty to decide how they will use some or all parts of the SPOC in their own course. In a SPOC, students typically access interactive content on their own time, at their own pace. In addition, instructors decide and set their own grading scale.

Colleges and universities can create their own SPOCs, or license them from other entities. In the latter instance, a SPOC might give the instructor an opportunity to deliver the material directly to students using video delivered by an expert in a field or on a particular topic, instead of assigning an article by the expert. Harvard University announced incorporating SPOCs into its curriculum in the fall of 2013. Unlike MOOCs, SPOCs have limited enrollment and are often used as part of a course students are taking for credit.