Here’s a summary of the latest on MOOCs.
It’s time to redirect the conversation about MOOCs
These new technologies should be used to enhance the positive—supporting engaged faculty mentoring connected students participating in an interchange of ideas–and not to exacerbate the negative by removing the content and educational expertise (the faculty) from the student experience. Place the highest value not on the newest technological options, but on the very oldest element of instruction: the give and take of ideas between faculty and students. At WSU Global Campus, all our online programs are built on the premise that technology can enhance that interaction, but should never be used to replace it.
I think it is time for those of us that have been leaders in “traditional” online education to wrestle the microphone away from the for-profits and latecomers—and begin to lead once again.
Harvard plans to boldly go with ‘Spocs’
“Prof Lue argues that the significance of Spocs is that online learning is now moving beyond trying to replicate classroom courses and is trying to produce something that is more flexible and more effective.
Universities that ignore such developments, or think that Moocs can just be showreels for conventional courses, are putting themselves at risk, he suggests.
“The really big questions for university are about what students get from the classroom, what works, what could be done better.”
“Institutions that sit back and watch, they may be in trouble. One can imagine a large institution where there isn’t much difference between online and classroom – and then you’d be silly not to realise there’s a problem.” “colleges
Why MOOCs aren’t so cheap…for colleges
“…MOOCs are not terribly cheap for the colleges and partner platforms producing them. Building a MOOC is tricky work.
It involves writing lecture scripts, rethinking course structure, creating a slew of multiple choice quizzes, adapting grading software, filming lectures and (sometimes) discussion groups, editing footage, and building a course page. Once the course goes live online, someone has to pay for chat feed monitors, glitch repair, and a squad of tutors and administrators. All this for a product that’s supposed to resemble a frozen dinner: pre-packaged, simple to prepare, and consumed in front of a screen.”
“Coursera’s costs are less public, though its partner schools have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their own course development. The University of Pennsylvania spent about $50,000 per course, while the University of Edinburgh dropped approximately $45,000 on each of its six courses. U Penn and the California Institute of Technology, when they joined Coursera, invested $3.7 million, justifying the expenditure as an investment in branding and a jumpstart for future online possibilities.
MOOCs need to back to their roots
While platforms like Coursera have made it easier for professors to put together online classes, the end result is a hypertextbook, not a virtual classroom that builds discipline. No wonder MOOCs have an average completion rate of just 7 percent. By and large the material is no more compelling than a textbook, and certificates of completion aside, there’s no reward for finishing the class.
MOOC designers should try to hew closely to the original (connectivist) model as much as possible. Rather than pouring effort into making thousands of glossy but ultimately stagnant hypertextbook “classes,” MOOC developers should be designing platforms that work for traditional scholarly fields and the new skills of the global economy. Twelve-week courses, video lectures, and mostly empty discussion boards should be replaced with an ongoing discussion that encourages participants to share what they know with one another, rather than perform for some distant grader. Professors would set the broad terms of the discussion and subtly guide it toward productive and interesting topics, instead of presenting a fixed curriculum. The hardest part of MOOC design, and the one that deserves the most attention, is making a space for engaged education that rewards helping others as a prelude to learning, not one that replicates the most tedious parts of today’s classrooms.
MOOC Discussion Forums: barrier to engagement?
“I’m surprised at how many classes rely uncritically on discussion forums when ten minutes of experience reveals how inadequate they can be, at least without more thoughtful management.”of them.