MEET THE MOOCS

MOOC Massive Open Online Course Arguments about each part of the definition

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.”

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: moocs#ixzz1zZj2iaXo Inside Higher Ed moocs#ixzz1zZj2iaXo

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?