It is pleasure to announce that a new report by Siemens, G., Gašević, D., and Dawson., S. “Preparing for the Digital University: a review of the history and current state of distance, blended, and online learning” was finally published after several months of preparation. It is a final report for an MOOC Research Initiative project, in part funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and with the Athabasca University as the primary investigator. The report consists of six chapters:

1. Kovanović, V., Joksimović, J., Skrypnyk, O., Gašević, D., Dawson, S., & Siemens, G.: The History and State of Distance Education,
2. Skrypnyk, O., Joksimović, J., Kovanović, V., Gašević, D., Dawson, S., & Siemens, G.: The History and State of Blended Learning,
3. Joksimović, J., Kovanović, V., Skrypnyk, O., Gašević, D., Dawson, S., & Siemens, G.: The History and State of Online Learning,
4. Lang, C., Siemens, G., Gašević, D., & Dawson, S.: The History and State of Credentialing and Assessment,
5. Gašević, D., Kovanović, V., Joksimović, J. & Siemens, G.: Where is Research on Massive Open Online Courses Headed?, and
6. Siemens, G., Gašević, D., & Dawson, S.: Future Technology Infrastructures for Learning

The reports looks at the fields that influenced MOOCs and what we can learn from the closely-related established domains of distance, online, and blended learning. Furthermore, assessment of learning, which is one of the challenging aspects of MOOCS, is also addressed in detail. Finally, the future of MOOC-related research is presented through the analysis of submitted (and funded) MRI project proposals and analysis of the emerging educational technologies that will shape the future of MOOCs and online education.

Report was also featured in the article in The Chronicle of Higher Education which primarily focused on the 5th chapter of the report.