Rebooting MOOC Research: Learning

Analytics and Beyond

Darco Jansen

Rebooting MOOC research

• Why MOOC needs a specific research field?

• What is so special about MOOCs?

• And what kind of research is connected to that?

• MOOC research at a • Micro level• Meso level• Marco level

Increased interest in Online Education

• Major investments of many universities in publishing course materials online.

• The ongoing evolution of technology also introduces emerging online support services

• New technology enables the possibility to teach over 100.000 students at the same time in the same course. (e.g., MOOC – for Massive Open Online Course)

Darco Jansen

But what is Open Education?

• Open universities : an open-door academic policy, i.e. no entry requirements and they are ”open” to all students.

• Open access(ibility); freedom of time, pace and place; open programming; open to people.

• New openness : free/gratis – open licences

• an approach to education that seeks to remove all unnecessary barriers to learning, while aiming to provide students with a reasonable chance of success in an education and training system centred on their specific needs and located in multiple arenas of learning.

Darco Jansen

Definition MOOCs

• Proposal by EU-funded MOOCs projects:MOOCs are online courses designed for large numbers of participants, that can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an internet connection, are open to everyone without entry qualifications, and offer a full/complete course experience online for free

• Recently validated by survey “Institutional MOOC strategies in Europe”

• Wikipedia: A massive open online course (MOOC) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings, and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive user forums that help build a community for students, professors, and teaching assistants

What is so special about MOOCs?Position MOOCs determines scope of research

• It is a political instrument and as such a concept that should be broadly defined.

• It is a new boost to online education: MOOC, mOOC, SPOC, SOOC, DOCC, LOOC, MOOR, ROOC, HOOC, COOC

• It’s all about massive - scalability

• MOOC are *the* instrument for opening up education to all – equity – equality – social mobility

Topics of MOOC research….• For learners – participants MOOCs

• Motivation – intensions participants• Non formal vs formal learning• Learning analytics to provide knowledge to each

participant of the (learning) progress• Learning analytics / SNA to provide information about

group – community level• For Teachers/Educational Developers

• How to design for the massive such that the efforts of all services does not increase significantly as the number of participants increases

• Dashboard to tutors to guide participant / group / communities

Topics of MOOC research….

• Educational• Economic• Technological• Legal• Quality Assurance• Accreditation• Strategic• Society

Institutional strategies E-learning and MOOCs

• US survey 2013 and 2014 on e-learning and MOOCsSurvey already conducted since 2002: >2000 US institutions

• EUA survey 2013 on e-learning and MOOCsNew survey: 249 institutions in 38 countries Europe

• HOME survey 2014 on MOOCsNew survey: 67 institutions in 22 countries Europe

Jansen, D. & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in EuropeStatus report based on a mapping survey conducted in October - December 2014. EADTU – HOME project

http://www.eadtu.eu/documents/Publications/OEenM/Institutional_MOOC_strategies_in_Europe.pdf

MOOC offering• EADTU/HOME (2014): From the participating institutions 47,8% is

offering a MOOC (17,9% offers five or more MOOCs). In total 71,7% of the institutions has a MOOC or is planning to develop one

• EUA (2013): about 58% of the European institution is having a MOOC or planning to introduce them

• JRC-IPTS (2015): ranging from 25% in Germany to about 60% in France

• In the US the number of institutions having a MOOC or planning to introduce them has decreased from 14,3% (2013) to 13,6% (2014)

• This confirms the EUA statement that ‘interest in MOOCs has far from peaked in Europe’.

Darco Jansen

Reflections on MOOCs

• European institution more involved in MOOCs than the US• The number of European institutions with MOOC involvement is increasing• MOOCs are perceived as a sustainable method for offering courses in

Europe. • In Europe the institutions are increasingly developing a positive attitude to

MOOCs and have positive experiences for the added values of MOOCs. • Most dominant objective in all studies is to increase institutional visibility

and using MOOCs for reputation reasons. • In the US using MOOCs for student recruitment is seen as the most

important primary objective of institutions, while in Europe it is rather to reach new students and creating flexible learning opportunities

Darco Jansen

Thank you!!!

Darco.Jansen@eadtu.eu

Coordinator

Coordinator

Participant BizMOOC and