Mindful Meditation for Online Learning: Lighting the Fire by Dimming the Lights: Helping College Students Relax and Focus to Prepare for Online Learning

MOOL" in a MOOC W ithin the last two years or so, the landscape of education and of instruction delivery has shifted.While this shift has not been entirely new-online instruction and distance education have been around for decades-it has generated substantial buzz in terms of openness, access and accessibility, affordability, successfulness, and complications.Broad and affordable, yet complicated and contentious, the emergence of the massive open online course, or MOOC, serves as the origin of this transition.The EDUCAUSE Library (2013) defines the MOOC very simply as "a model for delivering learning content online to any person who wants to take a course, with no limits on attendance." Though this brief explanation may not come across as groundbreaking, the MOOC environment, and the The discussion around, and analysis of, massive open online courses (or MOOCs) continues to grow and develop.Educators unfamiliar with MOOCs, their hosts, structures, benefits, and challenges will find this article helpful for gaining understanding of this on-trend form of distance learning and course delivery.Furthermore, the author proposes that the potential for librarianship within MOOCs should also be considered.Much of the relevant literature from the fields of education, librarianship, information science, and academia at large, reviewed here, have not delved too deeply into the concept of librarianship within this setting (yet).In an effort to discover MOOC faculty opinions, challenges, and incentives for MOOC creation and participation, as well as their thoughts on librarians in MOOCs, the author developed a survey.This survey aimed to assess: (1) the costs and benefits experienced by faculty teaching MOOCs; (2) perceived/anticipated student and learning environment successfulness within MOOCs; and (3) the extent faculty engage with their institution's librarians.Additionally, the survey approached MOOC faculty regarding whether they envision a future for librarians within MOOCs and what that future might look like.This article closes with discussion on survey findings, suggestions for future research, hypotheses regarding the future of MOOCs, and opportunities for a "MOOL" in a MOOC.