University of Edinburgh Looking beyond the hype: MOOCs as catalysts of major educational change Amy Woodgate MOOCs Project Coordinator

What and when? Old College, Central campus - University of Edinburgh 6 courses (wave 1) + 7 courses (wave 2) Broad subject areas Short in length – 5-7 weeks Fully online Free to take Open resources – CC licenses New as MOOCs, not f2f conversion Delivered through a MOOC platform Summer 2012 Autumn 2012 Spring 2012 Winter 2012 Partnership with Coursera and courses identified Announce launch dates Begin content production Courses live Courses end What and when?

Seen as knowledge exchange initiatives Research project into new online delivery methods Research project into new audiences -- who takes a MOOC? And why? Logical progression of University strengths and interest -- keen to explore technology enhanced learning It’s new, it looked fun! Not money -- Never intended to be money making! Why?

Academic course development No imposed approach or template Encouragement to choose an approach suitable for subject delivery and which the team were comfortable with Encouragement to experiment with platform Recycle, repurpose, reuse Use of creative commons as default Encouragement to think about resources beyond MOOC space Awareness raising of open content How?

EDC MOOC (… a little different from the rest!) Design challenged the mainstream No videos – learner developed content Encouraged learners to explore other platforms Running in parallel to an online MSc Digital Education module: E-learning and Digital Cultures Similar topics – different content Different levels – MSc = PG, MOOC = UG-level Interesting explicit connection explored – students on the MSc course to interact with MOOC, e.g. forum discussions

Over 410,000 learners enrolled Wave 1 – 6 MOOCs Wave 2 – 7 MOOCs … wave 3 ?? (+10) 200 countries wide age range diverse intentions MOOCs - LMU, Munich – June 2013

Online Edinburgh o Online & on-campus = ‘e-learning’ o Online & off-campus = online distance learning ‘ODL’ o Online and no-campus = MOOCs, OER, informal learning, ≡ LLL? We apply the same rigorous approval and quality assurance processes to all MOOCs didn’t appear from nowhere

Online learning - 3 modes ModeReasonsContext E-learning 21 st century curricula learners bring their own ed tech flexing the curricula B, M & D degrees selective entry full fee full services expensive to provide ODL reaching those who are time, geography, financially challenged Masters degrees selective entry full fee access to services with some limits on-campus quality, form differs expensive to provide MOOCs educational R&D with peers reaching anyone with internet who is interested in learning (cf LLL at trad univs) reputation fun!! Bachelor entry level open to all no fees very limited services no award – ‘certificate of completion’ not free to provide

What are MOOCs made of?

… lots of the features of typical online courses

…lots of short videos & presentations

…interactive tools online

… online spaces for learners to self-support + light touch oversight

… timed assignments throughout the course MOOCs - LMU, Munich – June 2013

… automated assessment – computer-marks tests MOOCs - LMU, Munich – June 2013

… required readings, in the MOOC + externally MOOCs - LMU, Munich – June 2013

…online assessment – groupwork/peer assessment

On-campus Enriching resource for students, signpost MOOC Datasets within learning activities = research Repurposing of content, e.g. embedding videos Sign-posting to others’ courses Off-campus Courses for credit, e.g. University of Maryland Courses within teaching, e.g. Generation Rwanda Activity in itself with class, e.g. local Schools Translations, e.g. Portuguese and Chinese Chinese parallel server scheme How is content being used and where?

Enthusiasm for MOOC engagement is (still) high and we are beginning to see big impact across the institution: New applications for fully online MSc programmes, e.g. MSc Philosophy ODL programme teams pushing VLEs and improving student experience through MOOC lessons Getting non-ODL Schools over the online line Interdisciplinary courses and collaborations Building internal capacity – more than just building courses

Even more enriching, embedding, research etc. Recognition for engagement, e.g. HEAR transcript All content accessible, findable and open to share Portfolios of content that work well as a package Community outreach post Connection with Schools & Councils Connection with local community groups Meaningful connections with events, e.g. Science Festival Potential for new courses based on local/national needs Plans for the future?

 On presidents/SMTs of universities  On governments/agencies  On faculty  On students  On student funders, incl parents  On the media  Varied by region: US∙UK∙Europe∙Oz∙NZ / SE Asia / China / Asia / S & C America NB: This is very subjective – there are 1000s of universities in the world!! ? What impact have MOOCs had?

What impact have MOOCs had… (cont.) Over 5 million users of MOOCs Over 200 institutions 1000s of academics Millions of people are talking about online education!! … Why would we turn back on this?

Fade away – bubble bursts Hold steady – case for expansion not clear to universities Expand & diversify Emergence of specialised MOOCs – unique areas Where might MOOCs go next?

‘Light teaching’ at large scale Mastery assessment Teaching with courses from other universities Really opening up the curriculum | virtual mobility Assessment of remote learners (esp for high stakes) Credit for open courses (=RPL?) Degrees at the learners’ speed Fees | prices vs costs | financial transparency for teaching Examples of many of these exist, in practice or in exploration Plans for the future?

1.Strategic direction – ‘MOOCs as a passing phase’ 2.$$$ / £££ / €€€ - investing in hard times 3.Our faculty/academics – preparedness for change? 4.Lack of sufficient curriculum design support / digital infrastructure 5.Student receptiveness to deep educational innovation 6.Political will – the search for the painless silver bullet 7.Going the way of the music/newspaper etc sectors – not unaware, but not able to bite the tough bullets Challenges for the next 5 years

Thank you for listening…. © MSc Digital Education University of Edinburgh

Amy Woodgate – IS Special Projects MOOCs and Online Learning Thank you! Any questions?

Who are our learners? … Not necessarily who we expected! University of Edinburgh, 2013

Measuring success: “Drop out rates”, retention and perceptions Total sign ups: 307,000 approx. Total active users in week one: 124,000 Total active users week four: 60,000 Total active users week five: 50,000 … but is it all about numbers and retention? Is this really “drop out”?

What did you want to get out of the MOOC? Flipping more than just the classroom… Beginning to ask ourselves (and our learners) Did you get what you wanted from the experience? Did you enjoy the experience? At least 124,000 new learners engaged with our content – huge success!!

Five research themes New pedagogies Virtual mobility Learner analytics Intelligent tutors / knowledge technologies Policy & strategy for online learning Online learning Edinburgh 2013 UK Research Councils US Gov’t Foundations EC FP LLL