Martha Cleveland Innes from Athabasca University (yeah!!!) talks
about MOOC
MOOCs are part of educational reform.
She looks at the drivers for higher education and change,
and looking at those will (hopefully) make. This is a liveblog from EDEN research workshop 9.
Everything we are doing, online, offline in our
universities, MOOCs… are all part of pressure for change and it is greater than
any the university has faced in any previous history.
Athabasca is a reformed university working to maintain and
fullfil the iron triangle, which also includes pedagogical quality.
Iron triangle: three components of higher ed that is a good
for society: access, quality, affordability and cost-effectiveness. (Daniel,
Kanwar and Uvalie-trumble, 2009)
Whatever the response we get from higher ed on MOOCs, never
before in history have so many learners are following all these courses. But
can MOOCs help us with educational reform.
AU MOOC advisory group mandate:
·
Create and provide an expert, evidence-based assessment
of and a critical academic and practical voice on MOOC issues to our local,
national and international networks
·
Determine direction regarding the assignment of
credit for individuals who participate in MOOCs
·
Support those interested in constructing an AU
version off a MOOC, where such an endeavor will continue our mandate.
·
Observe, document, measure analyze and
disseminate MOOC experience.
MOOC research initiative at AU selecting MOOC research
initiatives.
Results from ensuring quality and scale impact for MOOCs.
Learning to learn online (www.ltlo.ca)
was the MOOC to focus on. 5 week MOOC, launched 9 March 2015, given on Canvas
LMS, designed for both new and experienced learners (community based
education). Learner-centered.
Key question: is it possible to maintain the access and
affordability offered by MOOCs while completing the education iron triangle
which requires pedagogical quality as well.
3 levels o instruction: one flat instruction (video), an inspirer
starts and ends the week through inspiring, and supporters (students in DE, to
support, guide, offer assistance). The completion rates were similar to other
MOOCs, regardless of the pedagogical choices. They ran it a second time, due to
the quality experience it gave. The second time there were only 4 facilitators,
not 10 and the focus of the facilitators was to connect leaners. This lead to a
much higher social interaction between student-to-student interactions. Just by
tweaking the facilitator focus, the course dynamic changed dramatically (in
this case for the positive).
interviews were done with specific students, these
qualitative data showed
Also have a look at telmooc.org
