On open badges and informal assessment

Although developing informal badges are one of the key debates in MOOCs and online learning in general today, not all institutes belief it to be worth investing. Which is a pity, as open badges in a more 'formal' (if that is possible) way might allow people to really add credentials to their name and build up a reputation (even an expertise) from there.

My first encounter with informal badges was through discussion forums where the more reputed, helpful participants got several stars next to their name, indicating their answers were worth reading. But as time went by those informal badges captured the attention of public, learning projects. One of which was the iSpot project, a UK start-up that started out as a mobile learning project to allow amateur as well as expert explorers of the wild natural environment to exchange notes, learn from each other and gain extra expertise. The great thing about the iSpot project is that they managed to push laymen and -women into an expert position by issuing informal badges. iSpot grew and attracted worldwide partners, putting them on the brink of an international agreement for informal badges ... quite exciting!

Unfortunately the funding did not come through to move to this next, global level. The plug was pulled for this idea and the only thing left to do for the researchers who were eager to push forward this idea, was to disseminate their findings, hoping others might build upon what they had in mind. So here are some of the interesting ideas Jon Rosewell put forward in a presentation I followed recently (and I am adding a slide deck from a presentation he gave while the funding option was still in the running, below). 

Here are a few benefits of using badges and acknowledging them worldwide to enable people from all regions to grow towards and expert status in a specific area:

• A badge is validated indicator of acknowledgment used across the globe
• It builds upon recognized expertise by peers (both amateurs and experts)
• Badges are provided in the public eye, so a newbie can check out the log that moved a person towards the level of expertise, making it transparent
• Badges bridge the gap between informal and formal learning, offering steps/credentials for moving towards a more formal education for those interested, or showing informal expertise to other peers. In that case assessments must be put into place that are recognized by all partners (can be a challenge, I know)
• Although badges start out as informal validations, a mix of badges could lead to a formal credit
• In order for global open badges to be recognizable, they must have a clear, transparent design (which expertise, part of which course/activity, delivered by which institution - an example can be seen in the slides
• The granularity of the badges enables a learner to grow in a balanced way taken into account specific time-stressed periods in life (learning while pregnant, moving house, between jobs, career boost...)

There is a challenge in providing badges between partners, all partners must be seen as equally capable and trustworthy... but that to me is the way forward anyway, we all must learn to trust each others capacities a bit quicker. Because let's be honest, there isn't that much difference between any of us, no matter where we live (in the skills we have in us from birth), however there is a difference in the learning options we have depending on where we live, so badges can help bridge these gaps and offer a stepping stone towards more formal education (online or face-to-face). 

A speculation on the possible use of badges for learning at the UK Open University from Jon Rosewell

Merging #mLearning with #MOOC is a good idea

While MOOC are of interest for any training and learning, the surplus of mobile learning or mLearning can not be underestimated. In many ways I feel that the benefits that mLearning offers would add to many MOOC environment. To me a future training platform would merge both mLearning features, as well as MOOC options to come to an ultimate online learning environment that caters intuitively (read ubiquitously) to the learner's own contexts ans needs. But before getting there a couple of hurdles need to be taken, to me the most difficult challenges are:

• reaching seamless mobile learning (letting learners switch between devices, as well as stay connected with their peers at all times, enabling smooth/seamless collaboration as well as smooth connectivity);
• enabling the learner to stay in the flow with learning
• create a smooth cross-platform and immediate access learning environment.

In order to get it realized I started to map out (briefly) why I think this would be a good idea and how to get there. On 16 July I had the pleasure to put these ideas forward to a knowledgeable crowd of ADL enthusiasts. The formidable expert Jason Haag was the master of ceremony for the Interagency Mobile Learning seminars, which had a wonderful line up of speakers. The webinar was part of a series of free webinars on mobile learning, the presentations will be listed soon (and I will put the link to the other presentations up as soon as I get it). 

The slides of my presentation can be seen below, via slideshare

mLearning and MOOCs as an optimal training environment from Inge Ignatia de Waard

Probation report and slides on #mobile #MOOC and #SDL

After a week of heavy typing, my probation report incorporating literature review looking at challenges for self-directed learning (SDL), a methodology rationale and instruments for investigating SDL is ready for dissemination to ... is ready for whomever it might interest.

This week I moved from my master thesis to the first step towards a PhD by getting the probation report out. As some friends have asked me to share some of my PhD life, I thought sharing my probation report would be of interest. A probation report is a necessary step for all PhD students in the UK to fulfill if they want to move to the official title of a PhD student. Up until the probation exam, any PhD student in the UK would be considered a Master in Philosophy. My actual probation exam is planned for 1 July 2013, but in order for the jury to review what I have been doing, the hard copies of my probation report needed to be in this week.

Anyone wanting to read the probation report: you can find it here (I also added some notes that share the rationale behind some sections, hopefully helping others when they need to tackle this challenge).

I also gave a presentation on my master thesis, running up to my PhD during the CALRG conference in Milton Keynes, UK. I gladly share it below, it has some conclusions I took away from my thesis research.

Impact of mobile access on learner interactions in a mooc method and findings from Inge Ignatia de Waard

Summer schools on serious gaming and video use

Two interesting summer school courses arrived in my mail box: one on video in research (3 week course in Finland) and one on serious gaming (one intense week in Austria), open for master and PhD students, and researchers.

VIDEO IN RESEARCH ON LEARNING AND EDUCATION SUMMER SCHOOL COURSE 2013CICERO Learning Network will be organising a three-week summer school course in Helsinki on 6-22 August for the fifth consecutive year. The Video Research course is designed for students and researchers  
interested in using video-based methods and technologies in research on learning and education. The course focuses on current trends and phenomena in video research.  Participants are also encouraged to share their experiences of video research tools and projects. The course is an excellent opportunity for students and researchers to network while developing their understandings about the possibilities and challenges of video research in diverse settings. The course is part of the 2013 Helsinki Summer School (HSS) and the language of instruction is English.

For more detailed information (timetable, eligibility criteria):
http://www.cicero.fi/sivut2/news_CICERO_summerschool2013.html

Helsinki Summer School (application forms and practical information):
www.helsinkisummerschool.fi/home/index

GALA SUMMER SCHOOL ON SERIOUS GAMING
2-6 September 2013, University of Graz, Austria

The summer school course will include lectures and workshops at least on:

• - serious game design theories and practices
• - serious game development tools and techniques
• - serious game research methodology

The course will be an insightful and inspirational opportunity for young researchers and professionals get to know the realm of serious gaming.

The organizing committee has managed to attract some great speakers, including Harri Ketamo (SkillPixels Ltd) and many others from fine institutions such as Coventry University (the Serious Games Institute), Nottingham University, Utrecht University, Herriot-Watt University, Delft University of Technology.

For more information and registration:
http://academy.seriousgamessociety.org/summerschool

Organiser: Games and Learning Alliance (GALA)
http://www.galanoe.eu/

Presentation on #MOOC for KM change

Just finished my presentation on Change and how MOOCs can help with coping change, given during the Managing and Surviving Change MOOC organized by the University of Aberdeen. You can see the slide deck here. 

Or you can have a look at the video recording:

How #MOOC can help coping with change #KM

Later today (at 14 o'clock BST) I am going to speak during the Managing and Surviving Change MOOC organized by the University of Aberdeen. During this talk I will be focusing on how MOOCs can be used to prepare and cope with changes that affect all of us: downsizing, preparing for a career move, staying on top of your own expertise ... so feel free to join, the hangout URL will be posted here:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/111851221304115850183

And these are the slides I will base my talk on ... and get into some conversations with:

How MOOCs can help coping with change from Inge Ignatia de Waard

Free book on Open Educational Resources #OER

While writing up a first workable draft for my probation report (to pass from MPhil to PhD student ... like a first exam, with a defence in front of a small jury), I came across this wonderful free book on Open Educational Resources. The book is a collaboration between UNESCO, Athabasca Uni, Commonwealth of Learning. It might be of interest to everyone looking into online learning, MOOC or simply looking for resources that can be embedded in your own course. OER are used around the world at this point, which gives the concept an added perspective, because an OER can be as local or as global as you make them, fitting the content and the goal of your own or any course. Where I must say I would love to see more local OER.

A short description of what you can expect by words of the editors of the book:

The development and exchange of OER continues to be a technologically intensive process. Technological considerations in OER are not limited to authoring or remixing tools. Collaborative production of OER requires welldesigned and robust online spaces and infrastructure (Wikiwijs) and repositories. The latter can also be used to combine OER to create lesson plans online (Open Science Education Resources in Europe). Unless OER are consistently and adequately described, they cannot easily be located in online searches. The chapter on GLOBE considers these challenges and offers solutions. COL’s earlier publications on OER offered insights and advice on good institutional practices, business models and policy matters.

However, the social dimension emerges as an important factor from a number of chapters in this book. The study on OpenLearn shows that when OER are taken directly from formal courses, the biggest impact is on the formation of  communities of learners around the OER. This is similar to the conclusion of the chapter on OER for Lifelong Learning, both reflecting the experience of the UK’s Open University. The African Virtual University (AVU) chapter reveals the importance of the formation of a consortium of OER producers across institutions and countries. This process requires subtle yet intensive facilitation for its sustenance and is important for the quality assurance of OER. The detailed analysis of the experience of the African Health OER Network also points to the viability of viewing OER as a social practice.

In two different chapters that focus on MOOCs (contributed by the global pioneers of MOOCs), what emerges is that even if the teachers do not use OER, the learners draw upon OER through their own social space and networks. The chapter based on COL’s experience reveals that the existing hierarchies and power relationships in many developing country institutions do not allow for the decentralisation that fosters and encourages the use of OER. The experience of the Open University in the Netherlands reveals the significant role of trust in encouraging the increased use and sharing of OER. 

#MOOC @Edinburgh report on organizing 6 Coursera MOOCs

Last week the University of Edinburgh released their first report on their experiences gained after having organized 6 MOOC courses via Coursera. In this 34 page report they provide insights on organizing a Coursera MOOC, the success rates, their lessons learned, and how they went about in setting up the courses.

This is the summary they provide and it gives a good overview of all the subjects addressed in the report:

In January 2013, the University of Edinburgh launched six MOOCs on the Coursera virtual  learning environment (VLE) platform [www.coursera.org].  These were short fully-online courses, each lasting either 5 or 7 weeks, and they had a total initial enrolment of just over 309,000 learners.

Six different subject areas were chosen, reflecting the University’s diverse spread of  disciplines, with two MOOCs offered by each of the three academic Collegesin the University: Humanities and Social Sciences (Introduction to Philosophy; E-learning and Digital Cultures); Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence Planning; Astrobiology and the Search for Life on Other Planets); Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (Equine Nutrition; Critical Thinking in Global Challenges). AI Planning was developed at Master level, the rest were at undergraduate (Bachelor) level.

Each MOOC team chose a course structure best suited for the delivery of their subject matter; as a result, six different course structures were produced, with several teams experimenting with content delivery and collaboration methods outwith the Coursera VLE. Of the 309,628 people who registered on the Edinburgh MOOCs, 123,816 learners accessed the course sites(‘active learners’) during the first week of launch – an average of 40% of those enrolled - of whom 90,120 engaged with content in Week One. In total 165,158
individuals actively engaged with course content during the life span of the courses, and 36,266 learners engaged with week 5 assessments(29% average of initial active learners, with a range of 7-59% across the six courses). The MOOCs had no barriers to entry and exit, and the option existed to study without active engagement with quizzes or social media; this permits behaviour patterns distinct from those of on-campus degree courses.

A pre-launch (Entry) survey was sent to 217,512 unique email accounts one week before the courses began [22.01.13]; 45,182 individuals replied, giving a 21% response rate.  (Note that enrolment continued after this survey was sent out.)  15,351 responses were gathered in the end-of-course evaluation (Exit)surveys.
Of those who responded to the Entry survey, 75% indicated this was their first experience of a MOOC, and 53% were enrolled on only one MOOC offering. 203 countries were represented, with the highest proportion of respondents living in the USA (28%) and UK (11%). 33% were between 25-34 years of age, with ‘Teaching and education’ (17%) and ‘Student (college/university)’ (15%) as the highest represented areas of current employment. Over 70% of respondents indicated completion of degree-level academic achievement; a total of 40% respondents had achieved a postgraduate degree. These demographics were very similar to those of respondents in the combined Exit survey.

98% of Exit survey respondents indicated that “they felt they got out of the course(s) what they wanted”, with the great majority reporting that the length, pacing and level had been about right.  The most common time spent on study per week on the MOOCs was in the range 2-4hrs.

Both Entry and Exit surveys asked respondents for their reasons for enrolling, of which the main options chosen were to learn new subject matter and find out about MOOCs/online learning.  Gaining a certificate or career enhancement were less significant but more localised to specific MOOCs.

34,850 Statements of Accomplishment (SoAs) have been distributed to learners across the six courses – 21% of active learners or 12% of total enrolment, with ranges of 4-44% and 2-36%, respectively, across the individual courses.The whole process from initial partnership discussions with Coursera to completion of all six courses and distribution of SoAs took approximately 10 months. This document provides a summary of the 10-month process, including some comparisons between the six courses and our initial reflections on the data and our experiences in offering the MOOCs.

Free #mobile toolkit and link to the FRAME mLearning model

The University of Leicester has been looking at a framework for mobile learning to fit their learning with iPads in university project called PLACES. In order to build their framework they used the Mobile Toolkit from JISC, and leaned on the FRAME mobile learning model of Marguerite Koole, which offers a comprehensive model for mobile learning in all its social and technical aspects.

The Mobile toolkit from JISC as well as an overview of the FRAME model are disseminated via free downloads which you can find here:
JISC InfoNet. (2011). Emerging Practice in a Digital Age (Mobile Learning Info Kit) (pp. 1-65). Retrieved from http://www.jisc.ac.uk/digiemerge (Or:https://mobilelearninginfokit.pbworks.com/w/page/41122430/Home)
Koole, M. (2009). Chapter 2: A Model for Framing Mobile Learning. In M. Ally (Ed.), Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training (Vol. 1, pp. 25-47). Edmonton, Alberta: AU Press. Free download: http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120155

As I am exploring the main factors influencing self-directed learning in a mobile, online platform (FutureLearn) I am screening all frameworks to get an idea what is said, and especially what is not yet said about individual/collaborative learning in a mobile learning environment. I would love to get a framework out on self-directed learning with mobile technology, influences, strategies, getting into the learning zone...

Thanks to Mireille Bikanga Ada for tweeting the link.

Meaningful, hand-picked content curation at its best

Maria Popova is an astonishing individual. I honestly do not know how she manages to build one of the most inspiring, cross-disciplined, politically aware, literary content outputs ... out there. Since I discovered BrainPickings, I must admit I was taking her fabulous content for granted, but today I realized what a treasure trove it is and that it is about time I promote it. Brainpickings is a weekly media rich newsletter that offers a good read for minds looking for some art/science/literature food-for-thought.

Just wondering how much time she puts in (in 2012 the hours spent indicated 5000!!!)... Such media rich poignant articles. I would love to see that as a virtual, interactive eBook on any device. Every Sunday a clean slate of nice readings... 

Just take a look at how she reviews and lets the reader 'feel' a book. In this case it is the Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America (public library) by journalist Jon Mooallem. The way the media is embedded, meaningful quotes are used and personal ideas are interwoven with the article... 

Still need to make a contribution to Angies work of art though (donations keep the newsletter going)... will do so right now (says she who once said "you have to pay for your own meal" to her 12 year old sister and her friend, luckily my partner intervened and put me on the right track - love is sometimes expressed by money).