Issues in the design of Massive Open Online Course · Rethink educational variables (DeBoer et al....

ICLON, Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching

Issues in the design ofMassive Open Online Course

Wilfried Admiraal


Structure

• Taxonomy of MOOCs

• Definition of MOOCs as open online learning

• Research on MOOCs

• Rethinking educational variables

• Research agenda


Some Leiden University MOOCs


MOOC platforms

• Coursera (www.coursera.org)

• EdX (www.edx.org)

• Udacity (www.udacity.org)

• OpenupEd (www.opened.ed)

• Other national platforms in Europe, Asia and

Australia (Futurelearn, iversity, ALISON,

Open2Study, XuetangX.com)

• Local university platforms

http://www.coursera.org/

http://www.edx.org/

http://www.udacity.org/

http://www.opened.ed/


Typical (?) MOOC

• Course 4-12 weeks• Video lectures• Online materials• Discussion platform• Quizzes, essay assignments & final MC-exam• Thousands of registrants• Only a few hundred obtain certificate• Learner commitment wanes• Learners: 2-6 hrs per week


Taxonomy of MOOCs (1)cMOOC xMOOC

Socio-constructivist view Behaviorist-cognitive view

Participant driven Subject driven

Student-student, student-teacher, student-environment interaction

Student-environment interaction

Teacher is facilitator/collaborator Teacher is expert/authority

Social media, student-created materials

Lecture videos, text-based readings, assignments

Assessment for learning MC-tests, quizzes, peer review


Taxonomy of MOOCs (2)

• DOCC (Distributed Open Collaborative Course)• POOC (Participatory Open Online Course)• SPOC (Small Private Online Course)• BOOC (Big Open Online Course)• HOOC (Hybrid Open Online Course)• gMOOC (game MOOC)• SMOC (synchronous Massive Online Course• miniMOOC (short version of a MOOC)• tMOOC (task-based MOOC)


Massiveness and OpennessOpen and flexible

Less More

Massiveness

SmallerSPOC

miniMOOC

cMOOCDOCCPOOC

gMOOC

LargerBOOCHOOCSMOC

xMOOCtMOOC

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Diversity

• Openness:• Flexibility in time,

• Blended or not with campus education,

• Adaptivity in pace and tracks,

• Accessibility

• Free or little costs

• Massiveness

• Focus


Simple definition of MOOC

“MOOCs are online environments that feature courselike experiences – for example lectures, labs, discussions, and assessments- for little to no cost” (p. 74 DeBoer et al., 2014)


Review MOOC research

• Thoughts about design(Creelman et al., 2014; Statey, 2014;Walker & Loch, 2014)

• Course evaluations (students and teachers)(Hew & Cheung, 2014; Walker & Loch, 2014)

• Descriptive research on student profiles(Hew & Cheung, 2014)

• Descriptive research on implementation(DeBoer et al., 2014; Toven-Lindsay et al., 2015)

• Taxonomies of pedagogies(Conole, 2014; Margaryan et al., 2015; Swan et al., 2015)

• No controlled experiments or A/B testing


Instruction, interaction & assessment(Toven-Lindsey et al., 2015); 24 MOOCs

Modes of More Less

InstructionText, video-taped instructor

Recorded lectures,animation/avatars

Interaction

Student-student:Discussion board (Q&A, dialogue)Student-teacher:static posts

Student-student:Chat, discussion prompts

Student-teacher:Teacher active, live event

AssessmentOpen ended MC, activity, discussion board

posts, external resources


Instructional quality(Margaryan et al., 2015); 76 MOOCs

Problem centred Real-world, ill-structured problems

Activation Activate prior knowledge & experiences

Demonstration Good & poor examples

Application Apply particular knowledge in context

Integration Integrate knowlede in everyday work

Collective Reciprocal interdepence students

Collaboration Peer interaction

Differentiation Learning options

Authentic resources Real-world materials

Feedback Expert feedback


MOOC pedagogy: theory & practiceOrganisation

Learningmaterials

Peerinteraction

Guidance

Instruction

Assessment

Assignments

Differentiation


MOOC data:differences with campus education

• Magnitude of data gathered (numbers of students,

observation per student and types of information)

• Diversity in student population (reasons for

registration and background)

• Non-linear learning paths


Rethink educational variables(DeBoer et al. , 2014)

• Enrollment:• dynamic starts, diversity reasons to register, diversity

educational level (and unknown)

• Participation:• Huge variety in what learners do (watching video,

reading, assignments, quizzes, forums)

• Curriculum and teacher:• Non-linear and large variety in learning routes

• Achievement and assessment:• Final exam/grades for a small minority


Research agenda

• Controlled experiments or A/B testing• With in mind:

• Theories of (online) learning• Reconceptualizing educational variables• Pragmatics of teaching MOOCs

1. Peer interaction2. Assignments3. Guidance4. Assessment


Research agenda:1. Peer interaction

• Peer feedback / peer assistance

• Reciprocal interdependence

• Discussion groups (focus, moderation, composition)

• Social media outside course

• Live events with peers


Research agenda:2. Assignments

• Assignment to create/produce

• Ill-structured probems

• Learner regulation / autonomy

• Multiple perspectives (background student)

• Follow-up events


Research agenda:3. Guidance

• Differentiation in learning paths / tracks

• Adaptive instruction (fading scaffolding)

• Simulations and games

• Formal and informal learners (blend with campus)

• More experts than one expert teacher


Research agenda:4. Assessment

• Self, peer en co-assessment• Quality of automated assessments• Assessment of what (activities, participation and

knowledge)?


Research agenda:Make use of student data for

• Peer interaction

• Assignments

• Guidance

• Assessment


I would like to thank my colleagues Olga Pilli and Bart Huisman for their contribution

More information: [email protected]

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Suggested readings

Conole, G. (2014). A new classification schema for MOOCs. International Journal for Innovation and Quality in Learning,

2(3), 65-77.

Creelman, A., Ehlers, U-D., & Ossiannilsson, E. (2014). Perpsectives on MOOC quality. International Journal for

Innovation and Quality in Learning, 78-87.

DeBoer, J., Ho, A. D., Stump, G. S., & Breslow, L. (2014). Changing "Course": Reconceptualizing Educational Variables

for Massive Open Online Courses. Educational Researcher, 43(2), 74-84.

Hew, K. F., & Cheung, W. S. (2014). Students' and instructors' use of massive open online courses (MOOCs):

Motivations and challenges. Educational Research Review, 12, 45-58.

Margaryan, A., Bianco, M., & Littlejohn, A. (2015). Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOVs).

Computers & Education, 80, 77-83.

Stacey, P. (2014). Pedagogy of MOOCs. International Journal for Innovation and Quality in Learning, 111-115.

Swan, K., Bogle, L., Day, S., Matthews, D. (2014, April). The Assessing MOOC Pedagogies (AMP) project. Paper presented

at the annual conference of the AERA, Philadelphia, USA.

Toven-Lindsey, B., Rhoads, R. A., & Lozano, J. B. (2015). Virtually unlimited classrooms: Pedagogical practices in

massive open online courses. The Internet and Higher Education, 24, 1-12.

Walker, L., & Loch, B. (2014). Academics’ perception on the quality of MOOCs: An empirical study. International

Journal for Innovation and Quality in Learning, 53-63.

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