Post on 15-Apr-2017
Experiences of virtual classrooms and
MOOCsLessons for online educators
Sarah CorneliusUniversity of Aberdeen, UK
Oulu University of Applied Sciences, December 2015
@sarahcorneliuss.cornelius@abdn.ac.uk
www.slideshare.net/sarahcornelius
Tutor: H802 Applications of Information Technology in Open and Distance Education, first online web-based course in the OU
Tutor: T171 You, your computer and the net first large-scale undergraduate course - 12,000 students in 2000.
Student: e.g. language courses – first users of web conferencing
• Investigating teachers’ and learners’ experiences• What are the wider impacts
of these technologies?
Teaching with web conferencing
DISCUSSIONINTERACTION
LEARNER-CENTRED
Statement(n=16)Using Elluminate Live! has…
Mean(5 = strongly agree – 1 = strongly disagree
SD
… allowed flexibility in my learning 4.27 1.01… allowed me to communicate effectively with tutors
4.13 1.06
… allowed me to communicate effectively with peers 4.0 0.97
… made me feel part of a community of learners 3.81 0.98… allowed me to collaborate effectively with peers 3.75 1.06
… reduced my isolation as a distance learner 3.6 0.99
‘I think it encouraged a higher level of engagement than I might have had without it’
I hope you never use the ‘team captains’ approach.. That
would dredge up memories of the gym class
I remember being in a breakout room and no-one
else being there…feels lonely
Sub-recommendation 2: Select optimum numbers for breakout rooms and allow learners to move in and out of rooms as appropriate
It is fairly easy to get into the breakout rooms although …I
sometimes wait until the rush is over and then drag my name into
the room
I think [allowing participants to move themselves to rooms] gives participants autonomy as well, to
know that you can do that yourself, instead of someone
taking you
www.slideshare.net/sarahcornelius
What are your best/worst experiences of teaching with web conferencing?
TQFE tutors’ experiences
• ‘Teaching with a blindfold on’ • Everything takes longer• Importance of collaboration• Reflections on practice
Other teachers’ experiences4 experienced online teachers from across the UKInterviewed in Elluminate Interpretative phenomenological analysisNov 2010 – Feb 2011
it’s quite exhausting
its’ extremely demanding, for me and
everyone else
it’s quite intense
A demanding environment
In David’s words“There is so much going on […]. Obviously you have the verbal
communication, you have the written communication of the text chat … we’re monitoring who’s in the session, some people come in and out, some people come in late, some go out early … sometimes they lose connection because something goes wrong … monitoring who’s got good connections and who’s not …
In David’s words (2)“if it’s very interactive monitoring who’s speaking, when they’re
speaking, … the order in which things happen and just trying to manage [that] …
“Then of course you’ve got the slides. Sometimes they’re writing on there, you’re writing on there … monitoring the discussion […], so there’s so much…
In David’s words (3)“and obviously you’re moving between windows – it’s not just [the
web conferencing software] you’re working with, you’re working on … word documents to get information…
“So in terms of level of concentration, in terms of the things you’ve got to pay attention to, it’s extremely demanding, for me and everyone else.”
Limited feedback
‘No idea’ what the experience is like for learners ‘teaching to a wall’ - ‘into the ether’ Tools ‘provide limited information’
Needs strategies for e.g.– Bringing people into discussion– Ensuring everyone (who wants to be) is heard– Silences– Interrupting those who ‘hog the floor’– Facilitating small group discussions– Giving learners responsibility
Competence &Confidence
Cognition & Multimodality
Strategies &Experience
Technology Media
Teaching
Challenges of teaching
and learningwith web
conferencing
from Cornelius and Neumann, 2012
Wider impacts on teaching and learning
• Improved and more interactive presentations • Visual impact, clarity, engagement
• Providing increased flexibility for distance learners• Using recorded sessions, student meeting spaces, community engagement
• Collaboration• Co-design and co-teaching, innovation, exchange of practice, dialogue
• Impacts on other practice• Meetings, research collaboration, PhD supervision, professional development
• Resilience, resistance
What have been the impacts of engaging with web conferencing for your own practice?
MOOCs
“various examples show how […] instructors changed their teaching approach in both MOOCs and traditional courses, including by improving classroom materials and activities, crafting better measures of student learning, and experimenting with new pedagogies to increase engagement and learning.”
Duke University http://er.educause.edu/articles/2015/8/on-campus-impacts-of-moocs-at-duke-university
http://www.futurelearn.com
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/moocs-1406.php
Our learnersOver 35,000 registrations• >30,000 + Nutrition and Health• >5,000 Africa: Sustainable Development for All?
Over 60 contributors:• Lead academics• Academic
contributors• Moderators• Elearning team• Audio visual
team• External
Relations• Recruitment/
Alumni• Project
managementplus international experts and external organisations
Features Rich video presentationHigh levels of social learningIntegration into on-campus provision
Are there any aspects of a MOOC approach that you could use in your own practice?
Wider impacts on teaching and learning
Academics improving and developing skills e.g. media and presentation skills, digital skills
Academics rethinking delivery approaches e.g. new course structures and designs
Driving open approaches and facilitating collaboration and sharing
e.g. new collaborations, MOOCs on teaching
Sources: Kerr et al. (2015); Universities UK (2013); Yuan and Powell (2013)
At the University of Aberdeen
• FutureLearn platform statistics• Narratives – academics’ stories• Processes to build and deliver MOOCs• Emergent outcomes• Developing research questions
At the University of Aberdeen
Quality vs Production Values
Engagement
Effort, Costs, Recognition
Constraints, Pedagogies, and Course Design
Academic credit
IPR and Copyright
External Validation
Research Platform
Still converging?
• Engaging with digital and online learning provides a learning opportunity for educators, which generates reflection on practice and has impacts in wider contexts:
• Improved skills• Enhanced collaboration• Unanticipated impacts• Relevance to all learning contexts
Thanks• Members of the TQFE and MOOC teams and students who
participated in the research
• Co-researchers and authors: • Carole Gordon, Jan Schyma (University of Aberdeen)• Tim Neumann (Institute of Education, University of London)• MOOC team and Colin Calder (University of Aberdeen)
Web Conferencing
Cornelius S and Gordon C (2013) Facilitating learning with web conferencing: recommendations based on learners’ experiences. Education and Information Technologies. 18(2) 275-285
Cornelius S (2014) Facilitating in a demanding environment: experiences of teaching with web conferencing. British Journal of Educational Technology 42(2) 260-271
Cornelius S and Neumann T (2012) The realities of teaching and learning with web conferencing: challenges and issues. Workshop for ALT-C 2012, Manchester, UK, Sept 2012 Resources available from http://altc2012.alt.ac.uk/talks/28046
Cornelius S, Gordon C and Schyma J (2014) Live online learning: strategies for the web conferencing classroom. Baisingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
MOOCs
Kerr et al. (2015) University of Glasgow: Building and Executing MOOCs: a practical review of Glasgow’s first two MOOCs http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_395337_en.pdf
Universities UK (2013) Massive open online courses: higher education’s digital moment? http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Documents/2013/MassiveOpenOnlineCourses.pdf
Yuan L and Powell S (2013) MOOCs and open education: implications for higher education. JISC CETIS White Paper. http://publications.cetis.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MOOCs-and-Open-Education.pdf
University of Aberdeen © 2015Experiences of web conferencing and MOOCS; lessons for the design of online learning by Sarah Corneliusis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License