The Emergence of MOOCs OPPORTUNITIES FOR REACHING OUT

DISCUSSION WITH DIVISION OF HUMAN GENETICS ANDREW DEACON, MARY-ANN FIFE, JANET SMALL, SUKAINA WALJICENTRE FOR INNOVATION IN LEARNING AND TEACHING

12 August 2014

Emergence globally

Introduction

Massive

• Have many thousands participanting

Open

• Open to anyone with an internet connection

Online

• Everything is online

Course

• Courses structured with start and finish dates

M O O C

MOOCs didn’t just appear….

Image – Giulia Forsythe

MOOCs - open & online

MOOCs Online courses

Open content

Traditional Online Courses

MOOCs

Participation

Capped by facilitation and assessment resourcing

Accommodates thousands by having almost no individual support

Motivation Earn a qualification Take what is of interests

Backgrounds

Generally have similar academic backgrounds

Often extremely diverse academic backgrounds

Assessment Meets accreditation standards

Not formally accredited

Cost Pay to register for courses Free and optionally paying for certificates

Lecturer Responsible for teaching a curriculum aligned to a qualification and providing support

Engages people interested in the topic, with no responsibility for curriculum alignment

April 2012http://edutechnica.com/moocmap

October 2012http://edutechnica.com/moocmap

April 2013http://edutechnica.com/moocmap

October 2013http://edutechnica.com/moocmap

Participants

Completion Rates

http://www.katyjordan.com/MOOCproject.html

Reasons for doing MOOCs are of interest but not completing does not mean failing

http://www.edcentral.org

Mapping the landscape

An institutional perspective

e.g. Short courses Global Citizenship Write Science courses

e.g. most degree programmes

Showcase teaching and introduce topics with high-profile ‘rockstar’ presenters

Introduce fields and support students in undergraduate study

Develop skills and introduce topics for postgraduate study

Showcase research and special interest topics of interest to postgraduate level

Showcase professional careers for continuing education, professional development and qualifications

Category 1 Teaching showcase

General interest high profile course

Showcases the institution by means of an engaging subject or personality led.

Global interest and matches a popular understanding of high profile MOOCs

n

High production costs | high enrollment | loose curriculum ties

Category 2 Gateway skills

Provides foundational, bridging or enhancement skills for pre HE entry or during undergraduate pathways towards specialisation.

Could replace teaching for 'bottleneck courses.’

Local interest, either within the institution or at a country-wide setting. Moderate production costs | low enrollment | close

curriculum ties

Category 3 Graduate literacies

Post-graduate level courses to support application or programmes of study

Focussed on building postgraduate literacies.

Likely to be of local or national interest. Moderate production costs | low enrollment | close

curriculum ties

Category 4 Professional showcase

Geared towards vocational skills development, re-tooling and professional development.

Could be offered in conjunction with professional bodies.

Likely to be of local interest, although some specialised topics may be globally relevant. .

Moderate to high production costs | medium to high enrollment Close curriculum ties | Potential pathway to formal courses

Category 5 Research showcase

Showcase research or more specialised topics of interest

Offered at postgraduate level and assume some background in the topicstill geared towards general or leisure learning.

Likely to have global appeal.

Moderate/high production costs | medium/high enrollment Loose curriculum ties

https://www.class-central.com

Course offered simultaneously as a formal and as a open course.

Small private open course nested inside a MOOC

Massive Online Course: formal course inspired by MOOC pedagogy

Students in a course taking a MOOC with added local support and additional material

Massive Open Online Course

Formal course with lectures and support.

Wrapped MOOCs at UCT

Meet-up TopicMeets every Monday for 5 weeks

Critical Thinking in Global Challengeshttps://www.coursera.org/course/criticalthinking 

Meets every Thursday for 5 weeks 

Principles of Written Englishhttps://www.edx.org/course/uc-berkeleyx/uc-berkeleyx-colwri2-2x-principles-1348  Meets every Monday

for 6 weeksUnderstanding Research: An Overview for Health Professionalshttps://www.coursera.org/course/researchforhealth 

Meets every second Wednesday for 5 weeks 

Model Thinkinghttps://www.coursera.org/course/modelthinking  

Meets every Monday for 6 weeks  

Design and Interpretation of Clinical Trialshttps://www.coursera.org/course/clintrials  

Meets every Wednesday for 10 weeks  

Data Analysis and Statistical Inferencehttps://www.coursera.org/course/statistics

Meets every Thursday for 6  weeks

University Teaching 101https://www.coursera.org/course/univteaching101 

Local initiatives

MOOCs at UCT

Making the most of MOOCs

Participants

Institutional researchers

Educators

What MOOCs exist and why might I want to do a MOOC?

What is there to learn from

MOOCs?

How can I use and develop MOOCs? When are MOOCs useful?

Participants: Why take a MOOC? Learn new skills

e.g., stats for research Learn for enrichment

e.g., understanding climate change Explore a degree option

i.e., before paying Experience online learning

i.e., learning about teaching online

What kinds of learning?

Participant may choose to: Have a look (like paging through a book) Start but decide when is enough (like

dipping into a book) Explore only some parts (like a reference

book) Go along for the ride (like a quick read) Engage fully with the intention of doing

more than expected (like studying a textbook)

Educators: Using existing MOOCs Flipping courses with MOOCs Blending MOOCs with face-to-face

classroom sessions Use MOOCs as Learning Resources Use for Professional Development Wrapping a MOOC to supplementary

skills for students

Research: Learning from MOOCs

The massiveness of MOOCs, their accessibility, and the wide range of questions they raise make the topic a very fertile area for research, and this is likely to generate new methods of research and analysis in the educational field

Bates. Tony. (2014) MOOCs: getting to know you better,

Distance Education

If you’re interested in MOOCs

Enroll for a MOOC - check www.class-central.com/

Draw MOOCs into classroom - ask your students about their experiences?

Set up a study group - or join the CILT unstudy group

Scoop-it curated links http://www.scoop.it/t/moocswatch

Contacts

Andrew.Deacon@uct.ac.za Mary-Ann.Fife@uct.ac.za Janet.Small@uct.ac.za Sukaina.Walji@uct.ac.za

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Twitter: #UCT_MOOCs