Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Looking Beyond the Hype · 2015-12-09 · Overseas campuses...

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Looking Beyond the Hype

Professor Jeff Haywood, Vice Principal, CIO & Librarian

University of Edinburgh, UK

[email protected]

http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/jhaywood

1 MOOCs - LMU, Munich – June 2013

mailto:[email protected]

http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/jhaywood

On-campus

Off-campus

open

TECHNOLOGY

Presentation plan

MOOCs - LMU, Munich – June 2013

Trans-national education (TNE) in the UK TNE refers to education provision for students based in a country other than the one in which the awarding institution is located. For the UK, this means students based overseas studying for UK educational qualifications. UK TNE teaches 408,000 students, 75% undergrad, 85% beyond EU (international students studying in UK = 405,000, 2011-12 data)

TNE can be offered through:

Overseas campuses (3%)

Online or distance learning (28% - biggest provider OU)

Validation local programmes (51%)

Other – eg joint degrees, flying academics (18%)

UoE offers TNE only through online distance learning – taught online courses and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)


DAAD definition of cross-border education / TNE

Trans-national higher education at LMU


Online education @ Edinburgh

Online & on-campus = ‘e-learning’

Online & off-campus = online distance learning ‘ODL’

Online and no-campus = MOOCs, OER, informal learning, ≡ LLL?

We apply the same rigorous approval and quality assurance processes to all

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MOOCs didn’t appear from nowhere


Why 3 modes? Mode Reasons Context

E-learning • 21st 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


£5M cash investment over 5 years

Targets – ODL in all 23 Schools; PGT on-campus=PGT online in 10 years max; same high quality as on-campus;

To date, 47 Masters and CPD programmes

Students pay by course; same fee as on-campus

Required: new enquiry-to-alumnus student support processes; stronger market intelligence & marketing service; more pedagogic support; new agile technology base

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Expanding taught online Masters courses


Almost all part-time, generally 3 years to complete

Almost all working

Many don’t seek or stay to Masters but graduate with PG Cert or

Diploma

CPD modules sometimes more appropriate than degree structure

50% UK; 14% rest of EU; 36% rest of world

Biggest sources (100+ students) are: US, Ireland, Australia,

Uganda, Canada

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Who studies on our taught online Masters courses?


Exploring the leading edge of taught online education


MSc Digital Education – use of interactive technologies

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Five research themes

• New pedagogies

• Virtual mobility

• Learner analytics

• Intelligent tutors / knowledge technologies

• Policy & strategy for online learning

Online learning research @ Edinburgh 2013

UK Research Councils

US Gov’t

Foundations

EC FP LLL


MOOCs…..

are open to anyone – no mandatory qualifications

have no fees for study

have enrolments at start >>> learners at end

have learners who are not students of universities

are fully online

are very lightly tutored & supported

do offer assessment (in various forms)

have low study hours per week, on modules not degree programs

offer ‘certificates of completion’ rather than credits (but…)

are a different business model to trad HE

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What are MOOCs?


Subject area # C #edX

Computer science 88 12

Arts/humanities 103 15

Social sciences (incl teacher ed) 200 7

Science & engineering (excl CS) 218 29

Clinical (M & V) 85 5

Coursera / edX MOOC subjects

Some MOOCs have >1 subject

total Coursera MOOCs = 390; edX MOOCs = 60


The University of Edinburgh’s MOOCs


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308,000 learners enrolled

6 MOOCs Jan 2013 Coursera 200 countries

wide age range diverse intentions

now a Futurelearn partner too 20 MOOCs under construction


Reputation – early adopter of educational technology

Exploration of a new pedagogical ‘space’ to inform practice

Wish to reach as widely as we can with our courses

Sharing experiences with peer universities

Fun!

Not money…..

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Why did Edinburgh offer MOOCs?


What are MOOCs made of?


… lots of the features of typical online courses

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…lots of short videos & presentations

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…interactive tools online

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

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…timed assignments throughout the course


…automated assessment – computer-marks tests


…required readings, in the MOOC + externally


Limited availability subjects

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…online assessment – groupwork/peer assessment

Limited data – enrolling on a MOOC doesn’t require ID!!

For Edinburgh’s 6 MOOCs (launched with 308,000 learners) we had:

Mainly 18-35 years old; female = male; UG degree and many with PG degree;

lots in education/training; wanted ‘to learn new things’; wanted ‘to see what

MOOCs are about’; few wanted certificate or career enhancement

US and UK dominate enrolments (~30-50%) but truly global too

Patterns from other MOOCs very similar, altho some courses are more career-

oriented

These are data from ‘first offerings’ – may well change dramatically

Data are at: http://edin.ac/YWGDdK

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Who studies on MOOCs, and why?


http://edin.ac/YWGDdK

http://edin.ac/YWGDdK

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!!

http://star.arm.ac.uk/

?

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What impact have MOOCs had?


Fade away – bubble bursts

Hold steady – case for expansion not clear to universities

Expand & diversify

Emergence of specialised MOOCs – unique areas

http://www.csmonitor.com

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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

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Catalysts for change

Examples of many of these exist, in practice or in exploration


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

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Challenges for us in the next 5 years


Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Looking Beyond the Hype · 2015-12-09 · Overseas campuses...

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