Moocs 2017 – Possibilities for On Campus and Lifelong Learning

Terry Anderson, PhD

May 2017

MOOC

• Massive: Can scale but many are not large –especially after initial offering.

• Open: Most free to register, but pay for certificates and assessment. Materials NOT necessarily free and open source

• Online: All, though may be supplemented by online seminars

• Course: Move to combine in certificates, mini-degrees. Self paced (continuous enrollment) or scheduled sessions.

Popularity of Moocs

Chinese MOOCs

• Many new entrants

From https://www.class-central.com/report/xuetangx/ -Oct 2016

Social Drivers

• High cost of education

• Scaling difficulty

• Government and peer pressure

• Need to Increase access

• Sharing resources

• Lifelong learning

Drivers for Universities

• “don’t want to get left behind”• Expectations for doing more from public and

government• New learners• Opportunity to explore new approaches –

especially blended learning and new credentials• Opportunities for change agents to push

universities to use technologies, be more student-focused, create a new identity for Universities

Cost of higher education - USA

Motives of MOOC Owners

• MOOC Private companies: - profit, advertising, sale to industry, certificate revenue, entry into adult education market

• Universities: Brand Promotion, recruit for fee courses & programs, public service, develop new educational models – blended learning, new audiences, content for campus courses, research opportunities,

• Software developers: Sell product• Companies – new, low cost training opportunities

where skill shortages exist

Why do Students who complete MOOCs take Them?

Source https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why

What do Students get out of MOOCs

Source https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why

Courses & Students Cont. to Grow (EdX)

Language of MOOCs

https://www.class-central.com/languages

Demographics (from EdX)

Very low completion rates

MOOCS Currently SERVING Well Off

MOOCs Currently serve the already educated

The Harvard and MIT study of EdX identifies that for STEM on-line courses 61% of participants have a bachelor's degree and 81% have a degree for government, health and social sciences courses.

Ompare to over age =

Exhibit 2b: If a MOOC classroom held 100 students, who would theybe?

TEACHERS OVER REPRESENTED32% of MOOC sample

Training for jobs

• “short online courses are a means to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive job market with over 75% of learners in the study stating that they are taking courses for career progression reasons.” Future Learn

https://www.fenews.co.uk/featured-article/the-coming-of-age-of-digital-education-13014

Move from Paced to self paced

Paced - inprogrss Self-paced

Use of Moocs within Credit Universities

• Students study Moocs together in a class

• Institution evaluates and credits like normal course

• Teachers use MOOC for extra resources

• Students do MOOC for exam preparation

• Works best with self-paced MOOCs to align with institutional timelines

Moocs for Credit

• Achieving recognition is the most challenging issue for students, companies and institutions

• Udacity’s nano degree – “recognized by a number of well-known companies, such as Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, Google, IBM and Amazon.”

• CoursEra certificates• Some Universities offering Prior Learning Assessment

or challenge exams to provide University credit – but resistance from many faculty and administrators

• EdEx Micro Masters Degree– Credit for MOOC, reduces time in campus

EdX Micro Masters

MicroMasters Example (EdX)

• MircoMasters from MIT

• 30 students/year on Campus

• 40,000 register for MOOC for free

• 12% pay fee for testing = 480 MOOC students

• MicroMasters – better assessment machine, peer and teacher

• Students who pay have MUCH higher completion rates

Course Transfer

• California Community Colleges, the nation’s largest system with 113 institutions, just launched a course exchange so students at one campus can take classes online at another if those courses aren’t available on their home turf.

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-01-24-california-launches-the-nation-s-largest-community-college-course-exchange

Remote invigilation/proctoringHow do you know who wrote the

exam?• Face to face invigilation is inconvenient, time

consuming and costly - around $200/student at Athabasca

• Remote invigilation by

humans is convenient,

and mildly expensive

• Invigilation by webcam/realtime analytics low cost, convenient see http://smowltech.com/

What about Low Completion Rates

• “Findings indicated that the strongest predictor of performance was participation, followed by motivation.” de Barba, Kennedy, Ainley (20i6)

• Students taking for credit have higher motivation and achievement

• Many register to see and understand MOOCs or content and have no intention of completing

•

Quality in Moocs

• (1) problem-centric learning with clear expositions,

• (2) instructor accessibility and passion,

• (3) active learning,

• (4) peer interaction, and

• (5) using helpful course resources.

Khe Foon Hew (2016) Promoting engagement in online courses: What strategies can we learn from three highly rated MOOCS. British Journal of Educational Technology 47 (2)

Types of Participants

Quality Indicators based on Traditional Online Courses

https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2016/02/26/moocs-desperately-seeking-quality/

We are developing quality standards

Quality standards (cont)

FutureofMOOCs Model

From D Santandreu - 2017

terrya@athabascau.ca

Blog: virtualcanuck.ca

Your comments and questions

most welcomed!

Terry Anderson, Ph.D.Editor EmeritusProfessor, Athabasca UniversityAthabasca University10005 93 StEdmonton, AB CanadaT5H 1W6 Ph 780 425 5950

These slides are available!