MOOCS: connecting and learning in open online environments – an

autoethnography

Irish Learning Technology Association ConferenceMay 29th and 30th, 2014

University College Dublin, Ireland

Helen Crump @crumphelen

#EdTech14

stands for massive, open, online coursebut this does not tell the whole story

Image : Wikimedia Commons (CC NC SA )

Used to describe an open online course offered by the University of Manitoba, Canada in 2008.

At first

MOOCs have gone on to be offered not only by a range of providers across a range of platforms utilising a range of pedagogical approaches.

Designed to try-out the principles of connectivism –highly networked, disaggregated mode of social learning.

Since then

They signal a response to:

o the high cost of higher education o innovations in educational technology o moves towards modernisation and globalised provisiono efforts to open up access

“something larger than a course”.

MOOCs

represent

Veletsianos (2013)

relatively little known about impact on teaching & learning

Research largely the result of institutional surveys, learning analytics and big data, often conducted within the confines of single MOOCs.

Pressing need to gain qualitative understanding from learner’s perspective (Veletsianos, 2013).

Early days

understanding of learning experiences particularly scant

Autoethnography: process and product

seeks to describe and thoughtfully analyse personal experience in order to understand

cultural experience (Ellis and Bochner, 2000).

Combining research and writing

“I come to take up this role through the

combined consequence of agency and serendipity”.

“I was keen to continue my exploration of digital

literacies and online learning”.

Helen Crump: autoethnographer

MOOC provider platform date number enrolled

Program for Online Teaching Certificate #POTcert

Volunteer faculty,

Mira Costa College,

San Diego

Distributed Sept 2012 to May 2013 30 approx.

MOOC MOOC#moocmooc

Hybrid Pedagogy Canvas Network &Distributed

Jan 6th to Jan 12th, 2013 1000+

Open Learning Design Studio’s Learning Design for a 21st Century Curriculum #OLDSMOOC

JISC Distributed Jan 10th to Mar 13th, 2013 2420

Educational Technology and Media #ETMOOC

Alec Couros and ‘Conspirators’

Distributed Jan 13th to Mar 30th, 2013 2000+

eLearning and Digital Cultures #EDCMOOC

Edinburgh University Coursera Jan 28th to Mar 3rd, 2013 42,844

Social Media #CNSoME Instructure Canvas Canvas Network Feb 25th to May 5th, 2013 Not known

Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning #ocTEL

Association for

Learning TechnologyDistributed April 3rd to June 21st, 2013 1000+

Learn Moodle #learnmoodle Certified Moodle Partners

Moodle Sept 1st to Sept 29th, 2013 8000+

Open Badges: New Currency in Professional Credentials#OpenBadgesMOOC

Blackboard, Mozilla, SRSC and WCET

Blackboard Sept 9th to Oct 20th, 2013, Not known

Exploring Personal Learning Networks #xplrpln

Northwestern University, Illinois.

Distributed Oct 7th to Nov 5th, 2013 128

How To Be An Effective Digital Curator #dcurate

Sam Burrough and Martin Couzins

Curatr Jan 8th to Jan 22nd, 2014 300+

Rhizomatic Learning #rhizo14 Dave Cormier P2PU Jan 14th to Feb 25th, 2014 500 approx.

Reflective Enquiry

This autoethnography considers

the type of learning promoted by MOOCs

and asks how learning is achieved and

by what mechanisms it is facilitated and supported.

Getting started

Reflect on learning and post to the web in a personal blog.

In such environments, learners must have confidence and be competent using the tools in order to mediate the key learning

interactions (Kop, 2011).

“I soon managed to develop a level of comfort with the blogging process and gain confidence from supportive

comments received”.

Learning socially with peers

eLearning and Digital Cultures MOOC

Discussion forums

Alternative peer spaces

“fantastic level of participant-led networked activity initiated in the #EDCMOOC Facebook group.”

“alternative peer spaces became key learning space”.

Developing connectivist proclivities through social networked learning.

“EDCMOOC and ETMOOC presumably afforded me with an experience similar to that conceived of by the early exponents of MOOCs” …highly networked, disaggregated social learning, illustrating the principles of connectivism

Social Media MOOC on the Canvas platform…tutor-led approach, configured with a quiz (about Twitter) that I was unable to pass

Restricts more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon.

xMOOC/cMOOC binary

Lane (2013) identifies task-based (or project-based) MOOCsConole (2013) develops 12 design dimension classification

Negotiating pedagogies & design

• project-based, constructionist approach• group-defined learning design project• choice of a high or low-level learner activity pathways • plethora of online spaces

"the use of unfamiliar technologies such as Cloudworks presented an additional challenge to many participants in the

first week” Cross (2013).

Making connections

“One individual posted a Twitter link to pictures of her recent camping trip. This simple act triggered conversation, which helped spawn the development of a supportive, and on-going, learning network.”

“Locating this individual and realising that we had corresponding aims was as an important support for learning in the complex environment of OLDSMOOC.”

Pondering participation

“guilt at missing out steps”

“That’s the beauty of this type of learning and my preference towards the cMOOCs. I get as much as I want out of them. I don’t have to do every activity if it is irrelevant to my direct needs[…]. I don’t feel guilty about not completing the tasks because there’s no qualification, accreditation or monetary consequence – the true learning is purely self motivation, curiosity and application” (Blunden, 2013).

Dropout & models of participation

Formal completion rates seldom rise above 10% (Jordan, 2013).

‘Dropout’ not clearly defined. (Liyanagunawardena, et al. ,2014)

Models of participation: Kizilcec et al., 2013; Hill, 2013 and Milligan et al., 2013.

Descriptors closely bound to engagement within defined pathways of individual MOOCs, and do not fully capture the experience.

Challenging tidy categorisation

#rhizo14 – “I did not engage with prescribed activities beyond week two, but I continue to interact in the Facebook group that supports ongoing community”.

#ETMOOC – “I participated with ‘muted activity’ at the time, but I have returned to the archive on a number of occasions”.

“It is the combination of personal learning objectives and the freedom to roam, to ‘choose your own path’ […] that drives my

participation.”

Accords with the ideas of rhizomatic learning (Cormier, 2011).

Pondering the metrics of success

Traditionally, success is determined by the institution with the award of a certificate of achievement, but now

As learners can freely engage in these environments without penalty, it begs the question ‘what constitutes learning success’.

the learner

Success, in my mind

Closely adheres to the descriptor of active participant that Milligan et al. (2013) identify as conferring success within connectivist environments.

Not certificates or badges

“Success is the realisation of learning pertinent to my goals, derived through active blogging, social learning with peers and the development of ongoing network connections”.

MOOC Participation and success

Program for Online Teaching Certificate #POTcert Active – entire course

Awarded Certificate of Completion

MOOC MOOC#moocmooc

Active – part course

Open Learning Design Studio’s Learning Design for a 21st Century Curriculum#OLDSMOOC

Active – entire course

Awarded full set of badges

Educational Technology and Media #ETMOOC Active/passive – entire course – returned to course archive

afterwards

eLearning and Digital Cultures #EDCMOOC Active – entire course

Awarded Certificate of Completion

Social Media #CNSoME Passive – disengaged in week 2

Open Course in Technology Enhanced Learning #ocTEL Active – part course

Learn Moodle #learnmoodle Passive – entire course

Open Badges: New Currency in Professional Credentials#OpenBadgesMOOC

Passive – part course

Exploring Personal Learning Networks #xplrpln Active – entire course

How To Be An Effective Digital Curator #dcurate Active (but did not blog) – entire course

Awarded badge of completion

Rhizomatic Learning #rhizo14 Active – part course – continued interaction in Facebook

community group

Active = realisation of learning goals, derived through active blogging, social networked learning with peers and the development of ongoing network connections.Passive = realisation of learning goals, derived through engagement with course readings and some activities, mostly within course platform.

Key Themes

Social networked learning as guiding force

The role of connection in achieving learning

Self-efficacy as a product of experience

Self-direction/determination increases overtime

Social networked learning

as guiding force

Closely aligned with ethos that defines connectivist MOOCs (McGill, 2013).

focus on learner-centred and process driven learning

supports seemingly borderless learning

promotes active engagement, peer learning, knowledge sharing, collaboration & personalised learning

Role of connection in achieving learning

The overall ability to connect proves crucial in this study.

The achievement of connection is central to connectivist ideas.

Applied “connection as the unit of analysis in learning” across her learning landscape (Siemens, 2012, 30) .

Self-efficacy as a product of experience

Experience

Confidence

Connection

Learning

Supported by the work of Kop et al. (2011) and Milligan et al. (2013).

Self-direction/determination

increasing overtime

Development of a unique pathway across range of MOOCs.

Increasingly tailored to meet personal learning objectives.

Increasingly less concerned with course completion and the guilt often associated with the notion of dropout

Expression of self-determined learning, where personal experience and context is key, and the learner is “the major agent in their own learning” (Hase& Kenyon, 2007, p. 112).

Conclusions

Be scaled and augmented with methods designed to discover enhanced understanding of learners’ goals and patterns of their participation across a series of MOOCs over time.

Difficult to claim generalised conclusions from this study.

Research must now…

To ‘open up conversation’

How relevant is the type of learning outlined here in the context higher education?

modernising higher education

What role will higher education play in ensuring that learners develop social networked learning skills for lifelong learning in the future?

Thank You

Helen Crump @crumphelen

#EdTech14