taking the plunge with massive open online courses (moocs) professor jeff haywood, university of...
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Taking the Plunge with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Professor Jeff Haywood, University of Edinburgh, UK
1OERtest Workshop, EFQUEL, Granada 6 September 2012
What is a MOOC?
There are two basic types of MOOC[http://www.convergemag.com/policy/MOOCs-Here-to-Stay.html]
xMOOC = xMOOCs emphasize content mastery, centralizes courses on one website and uses automated grading tools to support hundreds of thousands of students
cMOOC =cMOOCs are more social and focused on deriving meaning of the learning experience with others….they allow students to participate through blogs, RSS feeds and other decentralized methods
We are going to offer xMOOCs, but with an element of cMOOC in some of them, especially in arts/socsci courses
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All MOOCs are open to anyone – no mandatory qualifications
They are fully online.
They may or may not use OER materials, ie may used licensed or commercial materials, and so may not be ‘open’ in that sense
They don’t offer credits (but see later..)
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Why is University of Edinburgh doing this?
Reputation – early adopter of educational technology
Exploration of a new pedagogical ‘space’ to inform practice
Wish to reach as widely as we can with our courses
Sharing experiences with peer universities
Fun!
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What does it involve? (quite a lot...and money too)
Choosing courses/professors
Deciding on duration/study hours/degree cycle-stage/
Deciding on the ‘legals’ – agree & sign contract, setting fee levels &
distribution, agreeing certificate text…..
Make sure the University Court approves!
Creating publicity materials for the website
Dealing with media interest
Providing ‘instructional design’, esp automated-scaleable assessment
Designing & testing courses
Providing video/audio recording/editing facilities
Organising QA process based on normal
Providing ‘teaching assistants’
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What next for Edinburgh?
Finish constructing the courses, QA them, offer them, ‘teach’ them,
review them, refine them, re-offer them (for N months?)
Start the 2nd set of courses, hopefully with experience from 1st set
Hold constant for a period – ie no uncontrolled expansion
Review fully after approx 3 years to decide where to go next!!
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Unanswered questions about MOOCs…
What are the demographics of learners in different MOOCs?
Why are they taking them?
What do they do with the learning?
What helps them stay the course?
Can they be made economically sustainable?
Will services spring up around them (tutoring, sales of books,
credentialisation etc)?
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Credits for MOOCs is arriving….