1. Preface to MOOCs and Open Education Special Issue: The Power of Four
Curtis J. Bonk, Indiana University, USA
Mimi Miyoung Lee, University of Houston, USA
Thomas H. Reynolds, National University, USA
Thomas C. Reeves, The University of Georgia, USA

Mimi Miyoung Lee is Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Houston. She received her Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University at Bloomington in 2004. Her research interests include global and multicultural education, theories of identity formation, sociological examination of online communities, issues of representation, and critical ethnography. Mimi has published research on STEM related online teacher education, cross-cultural training research, interactive videoconferencing, opencourseware, and qualitative research. She may be contacted at mlee7@uh.edu.

Thomas H. Reynolds is currently a professor of Teacher Education at National University in La Jolla, California where he researches design of online learning environments, standards-based online assessment and innovations in e-learning. Before coming to National University, he served on faculty at Texas A&M University after earning earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has twice served as a Fulbright Scholar—2010 in Colombia where he researched open education resources and 1998 in Peru where he lectured on Web-based learning and technology-enhanced instruction. Present activities and responsibilities include projects in Colombia, coordination for an e-teaching and learning master’s degree specialization as well as leadership in online quality assurance and online course review and development for National University. He can be contacted at treynold@nu.edu.

Thomas C. Reeves, Professor Emeritus of Learning, Design, and technology at The University of Georgia, has designed and evaluated numerous interactive learning programs. In 2003, he received the AACE Fellowship Award, in 2010 he was made an ASCILITE Fellow, and in 2013 he received the AECT David H. Jonassen Excellence in Research Award. His books include Interactive Learning Systems Evaluation (with John Hedberg), a Guide to Authentic E-Learning (with Jan Herrington and Ron Oliver), and Conducting Educational Design Research (with Susan McKenney). His research interests include evaluation, authentic tasks for learning, educational design research, and educational technology in developing countries. He can be reached at treeves@uga.edu.

Mimi Miyoung Lee is Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Houston. She received her Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University at Bloomington. Her research interests include global and multicultural education, theories of identity formation, sociological examination of online communities, issues of representation, and critical ethnography. Mimi has published research on STEM related online teacher education, cross-cultural training research, interactive videoconferencing, opencourseware, and qualitative research. She may be contacted at mlee7@uh.edu .

Thomas H. Reynolds is currently a professor of Teacher Education at National University in La Jolla, California where he researches design of online learning environments, standards-based online assessment and innovations in e-learning. Before coming to National University, he served on faculty at Texas A&M University after earning earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has twice served as a Fulbright Scholar—2010 in Colombia where he researched open education resources and 1998 in Peru where he lectured on Web-based learning and technology-enhanced instruction. Present activities and responsibilities include projects in Colombia, coordination for an e-teaching and learning master’s degree specialization as well as leadership in online quality assurance and online course review and development for National University. He can be contacted at treynold@nu.edu.

Hélène Fournier has been a Research Officer at the National Research Council Canada's Institute for Information Technology since 2002 and holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from McGill University. Her research areas is education and technology. She has participated in several research projects focused on the application and evaluation of advanced technologies in the training sector, in distance education, and more recently in learner-centered research and development of Connectivist Massive Open Online Courses (cMOOCs) and Learning and Performance Support Systems. Dr. Fournier has contributed to the advancement of research in the field of distance education, online learning, and adult learning. She has also been engaged in the study of informal learning experiences in the context of cMOOCs. She has published widely in peer reviewed journals and at international conferences. She can be contacted at Helene.Fournier@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.

Rita Kop is dean of the Faculty of Education at Yorkville University, She has been a researcher at the National Research Council of Canada and holds a Ph.D. in Adult Continuing Education. Her current research focuses on human learning in advanced networked learning environments. Before she joined the NRC, she was an assistant professor at Swansea University in the UK. At Swansea, Dr. Kop worked with community groups and universities contributing to community-based and online services for adults in some of the most deprived areas of the UK. Dr. Kop is originally from the Netherlands, where she spent ten years as teacher and head teacher in elementary education. For more information: http://www.you-learn.org. She can be contacted at rkop@yorkvilleu.ca.

Ke Zhang is Associate Professor at Wayne State University in the USA. Her research focuses on e-learning, mobile learning technologies and social media, and big data research and applications in educational technology research and development. Her research publications are translated into and/or cited in languages such as Armenian, Chinese, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and more. Her work is adapted to guide research and practices of e-learning and mobile learning in different countries and various settings. Her collaborative research is funded by NIH with multi-million grants. She serves on the editorial boards for highly regarded scholarly journals, and plays active leadership roles in international professional organizations. She has delivered keynote presentations and invited talks in Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, the UAE, and the USA. Dr. Zhang has consulted for international organizations like the World Bank, national government and agencies, corporations and educational institutions, both in USA and overseas. Inquiries are welcome by email to ke.zhang@wayne.edu.

Sarah Haavind is Senior Program Analyst at the Oregon Department of Education where she leads the design and implementation of a statewide online professional learning portal. She was an Associate Professor of Education at Lesley University Graduate School of Education and began her career as a high school teacher. She taught online in the 1990s for The Concord Consortium where she co-authored Facilitating Online Learning (Atwood, 2000) at Lesley University in the early 2000s, and currently adjuncts at Pepperdine University in a blended Doctorate in Learning Technologies program. She can be contacted at Sarah.Haavind@pepperdine.edu.

Cynthia Sistek-Chandler is Associate Professor of Educational Technology at National University where she taught her first online class in 2000. Dr. Sistek-Chandler is currently serving a special appointment as a Faculty Fellow to the Center for Innovation and Learning, also at National University. Prior to teaching in higher education she taught primary grades. She can be reached at cchandler@nu.edu.

Shoba Bandi-Rao is an assistant professor at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, where she teaches Language and Culture, a course in linguistics and Intensive Writing to underprepared college freshmen. Her research focuses on ways to use technology and the appropriate pedagogical strategies to narrow the college readiness gap for disadvantaged students at two-year colleges. Currently, she is working on three major projects: (1) digital storytelling as a way to help struggling writers; (2) use of small “chunks” of time (during subway commute, between classes) and the convenience of mobile technology to practice language skills; and (3) videos created by students on academic literacy skills. She has also been keenly following the evolution of MOOCs on basic writing. Bandi-Rao received her Ph. D. in Applied Linguistics from New York University. During her free time, she dabbles in amateur astronomy. Bandi-Rao can be contacted at sbandirao@bmcc.cuny.edu.

Christopher Devers received a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is an Associate Professor in the School of Education and the Director of Research for the Center for Learning and Innovation at Indiana Wesleyan University. Broadly, Professor Devers’ research focuses on how and when technology promotes learning. Specifically, his research explores the optimal components that impact learning and matching those to the right situations. Overall, the broader questions regarding how and when technology is effective are applied to Professor Devers’ lines of research -- online education, video learning, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. He can be reached at chris@edprofessor.com and http://www.edprofessor.com.

Vicki S. Williams serves in the Teaching & Learning with Technology (TLT) department at Penn State where she is Manager, Assessment & Evaluation Research. In this role, she studies and evaluates the effectiveness of technology interventions and their applications to learning and teaching. She received her Ph.D. in Instructional Systems from The Pennsylvania State University and her M.Ed. in Science Education from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Before joining TLT, Dr. Williams taught secondary school science and Training & Development at Penn State. Her current research focuses on the use of technologies to facilitate large enrollment courses, in both online and resident instruction.

Nai-Fen Su is a Ph.D. candidate in Workforce Education and Development program and concurrently a M.Ed. candidate in Counselor Education program with a dual emphasis in Rehabilitation and Career Counseling at the Pennsylvania State University. Since 2012, Nai-Fen Su has been working as an assessment graduate assistant in Educational Technology Services (ETS) in Information Technology Services (IST) at Penn State. Until now, she has been involved in over 20 assessment projects in ETS at Penn State. Before studying at Penn State, Nai-Fen Su also worked as an employee relations specialist for 4 years at Qisda Corporation in Taiwan. Her current research focuses on the career development for college students with or with not disabilities, disability employment, recruiters' competencies, and online learning.

Thomas C. Reeves, Professor Emeritus of Learning, Design, and Technology at The University of Georgia, has designed and evaluated numerous interactive learning programs. In 2003, he received the AACE Fellowship Award, in 2010 he was made an ASCILITE Fellow, and in 2013 he received the AECT David H. Jonassen Excellence in Research Award. His books include Interactive Learning Systems Evaluation (with John Hedberg), a Guide to Authentic E-Learning (with Jan Herrington and Ron Oliver), and Conducting Educational Design Research (with Susan McKenney). His research interests include evaluation, authentic tasks for learning, educational design research, and educational technology in developing countries. He can be reached at treeves@uga.edu and his homepage can be found at http://www.evaluateitnow.com/.

Curtis J. Bonk is Professor of Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University and President of CourseShare. Drawing on his background as a corporate controller, CPA, educational psychologist, and instructional technologist, Bonk offers unique insights into the intersection of business, education, psychology, and technology. A well-known authority on emerging technologies for learning, Bonk reflects on his speaking experiences around the world in his popular blog, TravelinEdMan. In 2014, he also was named the recipient of the Mildred B. and Charles A. Wedemeyer Award for Outstanding Practitioner in Distance Education. He has authored several widely used technology books, including The World Is Open, Empowering Online Learning, The Handbook of Blended Learning, Electronic Collaborators, and, most recently, Adding Some TEC-VARIETY which is free as an eBook (http://tec-variety.com/). His homepage contains much free and open material (http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/) and he can be contacted at cjbonk@indiana.edu.