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Who Learns What, When, and How? Parsing the 2.5 Million Registrants in HarvardX MOOCs Peter K. Bol Vice Provost for Advances in Learning Online Learning as Distance Education Babson Research, US higher ed only Massive Open Online Courses MOOCs versus Online Learning at Harvard • The percent of higher education institutions that currently have a MOOC increased from 2.6% in 2012 to 5.0% in 2013, and to 8.0% this year. • 46% have no plans to create MOOCs, the rest are unsure MOOCs are more interesting to talk about because: • They are controversial – Will they disrupt higher ed? Take away our jobs? Dumb down education? Undermine the liberal arts? • They are time-consuming and expensive – And we don’t know how to make them pay for themselves • They have found an audience – But we don’t understand the audience well enough (MOOCs: no tuition, unlimited open enrollment, highly automated) Examples of HarvardX “Learning Opportunities” • "The Einstein Revolution" with Peter Galison • https://www.edx.org/course/einstein-revolutionharvardx-emc2x#.VM-r4lptAWS • —rigorous, 5 to 7 hours per week (1.5 hours of video segments per week, plus readings, mini essays. . .) • —creative use of animations, film clips, poetry. . .to investigate the philosophical roots and philosophical consequences of Einstein's work. • —”…changing role of physics in the 20th and 21stcenturies… Einstein's engagement with relativity, quantum mechanics, Nazism, nuclear weapons, etc… raises basic questions about what it means to understand physics in its broader history." Visualizing Japan • https://courses.edx.org/courses/VJx/VJx/3T2014/cours eware/6467e15783a04a0888b68ce1dd4d45bf/f458ba 37f8554e989bd5086cad4d59af/ • —example of Harvard collaborating with another university (MIT). At the end of this course, the University of Tokyo continues with their version which picks up (historically) where our course leaves off. • —covers events from 1850 to 1920: Black Ships, Samurai, Perry to Hibiya Riot of 1905 to Modernity in Interwar Japan: Sheisedo & Consumer Culture. VIDEO, ILLUSTRATIONS, CLAYMATION • "Fundamentals of Neuroscience" with Prof David Cox (FAS) • http://www.mcb80x.org/course/neurons_and_networks/the_ synapse/synapse_overview • --- Review of course animations and additional animations can be found at: • http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/fundamentals-ofneuroscience?utm_content=buffer3fb4f&utm_medium=social &utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer • "Contracts" with Prof Charles Fried (HLS) trailer • https://www.edx.org/node/3911#.VFeYsVxtAWQ INTERACTIVE MEDIA • "ChinaX" with Professors Peter Bol and Bill Kirby (FAS, HBS) • "Saving Schools: History and Politics of US Education" with Prof Paul Peterson (HKS) • https://courses.edx.org/courses/HarvardX/1368. 1x/3T2014/courseware/ec76ed5aed994b438de4 9626d787a8d3/d9a41ec9208f4f4186b52f9a0a56 da31/ Challenges • CHALLENGING, LESSONS LEARNED • "First Nights" with Prof Tom Kelly (FAS) • Hector Berlioz: excerpt from Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra • http://youtu.be/1jie3u5Moe8 TRANSFORMATIVE FAIR USE • "Human Health and Global Environmental Change," with Prof. Aaron Bernstein (HMS, course presented by HSPH). • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YZnvbRs gmA • --- Start at 4min:15sec TO 5min:50sec HarvardX Portfolio: An Evergrowing Collection of Clips • http://vimeopro.com/user34050843/harvardx -portfolio The little we know about the audience • Survey of Year 2 HarvardX and MITX registered learners • 260K/950K completed the survey The Big Conclusion: the 260k who filled out the survey were motivated by: LIFE-LONG LEARNING 82% LEARNING ABOUT THE CONTENT 82% ACCESSING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES NOT AVAILABLE TO ME 74% Life-long learning versus other possibilities • Serve my community 34% (but 50% said not at all) • Advance my career 33% (5% for religion, 39% for public health) • Advancing my formal education 40% • Earning a certificate 21% (50% said not at all) • Join online community 16% (49% said not at all) So what? Consider: • 76% want to learn from the “best professors at the best universities” • 66% are not in school but 50% have identified as teachers at some point • 80% already have some familiarity with the course content (15% none, 5% extreme) OUR PRIMARY AUDIENCE IS PEOPLE WHO ARE WELL EDUCATED AND CARE ABOUT LEARNING The Challenge : aligning HarvardX with the core mission of the university Research & Teaching = Learning Teaching now goes the distance Leading in a global world Leading through Learning The common ground of HarvardX learners and the University