Transcript Meet the moocs - Utah Valley University

MEET THE MOOCS
MOOC
• Massive
• Open
• Online
• Course
• Arguments about each part of the definition
http://infocult.typepad.com/infocult/2008/07/connectivism-course-draws-night-or-behold-the-mooc.html
WHERE DO MOOCS START?
• Bryan alexander coined the term (Senior Fellow for the National Institute for Technology in Liberal
Education)
• Part of a course on Connectivism
CONNECTIVISM
• “At its heart, connectivism is the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections,
and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks. Knowledge,
therefore, is not acquired, as though it were a thing. It is not transmitted, as though it were some type
of communication”
• “…And while it is convenient to talk as though knowledge and beliefs are composed of sentences and
concepts that we somehow acquire and store, it is more accurate -- and pedagogically more useful -- to
treat learning as the formation of connections.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-downes/connectivism-and-connecti_b_804653.html
THE CONNECTIVIST MOOC OR CMOOC
• Aggregation/distribution
• Remixing/Repurposing
• Lack of boundaries, except maybe time
• Emphasis on social
• Producing information, tied usually through hashtags
IMPLICATIONS OF CONNECTIVISM
• Large number of participants is actually a feature, not a bug
• “Sage on the stage” is less important because they represent only one connection
• The process of navigating the course is just as important as the course itself
CHALLENGES/CRITIQUES
• Lots of education or meta courses
• Validity of knowledge
• Coherence
• Eschewing of assessments (Can you drop out of a MOOC?)
RISE OF THE “XMOOCS”
• These are the most well-known of the bunch
•
So named because of edX
• Difference between cMOOC and xMOOC can be problematic
DEFINITION OF AN XMOOC
• Massive
• Video
• Automated tasks
• Discrete begin and end points(?)
• Centered around a list of materials
• “Crowd-sourced” feedback (some courses)
THE MAJOR PLAYERS
• Udacity
• EdX
• Coursera
UDACITY
• Started from Stanford AI class
•
Class was essentially offered as an xMOOC
• Professor left Stanford; started Udacity
• Focus on Math and Computer Science
• Some high school courses offered as well
FEATURES OF UDACITY
• Videos with quizzes
• Automated testing
• Discussion forums
• Optional certification test for a fee
• Resume passed on to “partner companies”
EDX
• Cross-institution platform includes MIT, Berkeley and Harvard
• Each site is an “_____x”
COURSERA
• For profit started by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller from Stanford University
• Initially a focus on Math and Computer Science
CANVAS.NET
• Instructure launches its own blogging platform
• Aimed at being a more egalitarian MOOC
CONTROVERSY
THE PLACE OF THE PROFESSOR
• Focus on
•
Performance
•
Big credentials
• Abuse
LEARNING
• Cary Nelson, the outgoing president of the American Association of University Professors, said that
online models such as Coursera – an online entity offering free courses from Stanford University,
Princeton University, University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania – can be terrific for
delivering educational materials to retirement homes, “where folks are unlikely to assume any social
responsibilities for the ‘knowledge’ they have acquired.”
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/05/23/faculty-groups-consider-how-respondmoocs#ixzz1zZj2iaXo
Inside Higher Ed
PEDAGOGY
• Little person-to-person interaction
•
What is there is students teaching themselves
• “Sage on the stage” returns
GRADING
• Peer or automated grading
•
What’s the value?
• Research is ongoing
CERTIFICATES
• Number awarded up 800% in the last 30 years
• Concern about gender discrepancy
• What do they mean for an employer?
ACCESS
• Survey of Machine Learning course
•
20% were graduate students
•
Many white and male*
•
Many already had familiarity with the topic
• Developing nations can’t afford the fees
*Some criticism that applies to instructors as well
CONTEXT
• Helter-skelter catalog
• Prior learning
• Cultural imperialism
• Misconceptions (11 year old and Game Theory)
SUSTAINABILITY
• High dropout rates (varies; around 80-90%)
• What is the financial model for MOOCs?
•
Credits? Certificates?
•
Large up-front costs for delivery
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
QUESTIONS?