A Day in Mooc

(Today StoryADay.org prompt was to write about a foreign land. A few years ago, I declared my official home to be Facebook because my friends and family members -- scattered all over the globe -- come together on Facebook for some sort of a shared experience. So the foreign land I visited is Mooc, a play on MOOC, a new concept in online teaching in which hundreds, even thousands, join what are called massive open online classes.)


The day began a little later than the student had expected. But it didn't matter. She almost had forgotten that she was supposed to be in Mooc, when suddenly something reminded her to look into the mirror.
Her day had begun as most others. After a long day of bicycling and planting shallots, she had settled down for a nice evening meal with her husband outdoors. As is customary for them in the long days of late spring and early summer, her husband lit the grill and slowly they prepared a main course of meat -- it was ham tonight -- along with several fresh-from-the-garden vegetables: tender asparagus spears, beets, and collards. The student also chopped some spring garlic and tossed it into a greased cast-iron skillet with a hot chili pepper and sharp cheddar cheese. It made both of their lips burn.
After dinner, a shower, a story, a small scoop of ice cream and sleep. The student slept deep, falling asleep with a reminder pinned to her heart to check on her schedule for Mooc.
The reminder hit her as she was staring into her soul, writing her personal thoughts into a longhand journal as sun streamed in through the window. She closed her eyes, let the warm cat settle onto her chilled toes, and typed a few phrases into a computer. Yes, she was on schedule to be in Mooc.
She didn't bother to change clothes before heading for Mooc. She did pour herself a third (or was it a fourth?) cup of coffee. She also nibbled on a piece of sharp cheddar cheese. She wasn't too worried about what Mooc would be like, but she did have some curiosity. Hundreds of people were pouring into Mooc, eager to learn and hear words of wisdom from the most brilliant men of the world. Being a woman who preferred small gatherings and more intimate exchanges and being someone for whom the brilliance of men meant very little, she wasn't that interested in the crowd or in the words. But she did wonder what it would be like in Mooc. Would it be like her past forays to places like Angel and hangouts like Facebook? Would it be easy to get around? Would there be language barriers, issues of translation?
Charged up, she showed her official papers to a customs officer at the entry point and entered Mooc.
Welcome, a major sign said. Your itinerary is below.
Mooc is set up for students to make trips of six to fourteen weeks. Teachers assign activities for the students to complete, but don't really check to see if the students do them or not. There are no required readings, at least as far as this student could see. There are videotapes to watch, websites to visit, and quizzes, surveys, and tasks to complete. There also are discussion forums for all of the visitors to Mooc.
The first task on the student's to-do list was to maintain a food diary for three days. The Mooc guide recommended a series of approaches that the student might take, but she felt a bit of a groan. Food diaries always mean looking up calories. Looking up calories always put the student in a dilemma. Not because she eats too much. But because she eats too naturally. How do you count the calories in a fresh-from-the-ground beet that was cleaned with well water, wrapped in foil, baked over hot coals until tender, and then eaten with no accompaniment? The calorie intake says 172 if the beets were from a canned, and either seasoned with additional sugar, a pickling marinade, or candied for special effect.
Nevertheless, the student resolved to have a good attitude and chose one of several food tracking tools that her new friend, the Mooc guide, proposed. She logged in her breakfast and was alarmed to see that it totaled 517 calories. One-eighth of a bagel, one slice of homemade sourdough break, a tablespoon of butter, two ounces of cheese, two glasses of water, and black coffee could actually add up to 517 calories?
"Any athletes out there?" The billboard flashed on a major thoroughfare. The student instructed her guide to stop. She wasn't sure who created the post, but she wanted to visit. It took her a few minutes to find her way in, and quickly she discovered that this visit to Mooc would involve being with athletes from all over the world. All training for marathons, triathlons, and similar events. All doing yoga. All involved with power-lifting. All wondering why calorie counts for athletes seemed so out of synch.
The student plunged into the room, and began talking shop. She confessed to two PETA members that she loved the taste of fresh-from-the-farm meat but wouldn't mind adding more plant-based protein to her diet. They responded by waving photos at her of hamburger processed as the sickly looking pink slime. Guiltily, the student wondered if she should give up eating meat for the duration of her time in Mooc. Quickly, however, the conversation shifted to Balance Bars and the added sugar, as well as the hidden calories in nuts. She decided that it might be time to rejoin the guide, but the athletes simply were not ready to release her. All day, their comments and their looks kept coming, following her as she wandered all over Mooc, exploring the sites and wondering if in a place of so much massive open human activity she could ever find the quiet intimacy of the one-on-one conversation that drew her to the land of Mooc in the first place.