The Network is the Learning

Many teacher want to get their classes online for various reasons. The info here will help anyone set it up more professionally.

Certain "truisms" run through articles written on MOOCs. One of the more consistent "stories" repeated from article to article involves the completion rate of MOOCs, hovering around 7%. There are many reasons why MOOCs have low completion rates, but typically the "story" is told as one of MOOC design failure, as in this piece. Quote from this article: "“To engage learners and keep them interested in the course - and motivated to continue and complete it, there’s a need to develop MOOCs that are highly interactive (iMOOCs). No wonder that MOOCs’ learner drop-out rates are extremely high,” [Poonam Jaypuriya] commented. “According to our information, typically, we’re seeing only seven or eight per cent of learners completing courses.” I agree with the 7% completion rate, which matches my hands-on experience. But I disagree with the assessment of why 93% of my students did not complete my MOOC. In fact, let's consider the admission requirements for a MOOC. Typically, a student submits an email address. There is no transcript verification, there is no statement of commitment (i.e. how much this "learner" will prioritize a free class when other life and work events occur during the course), and no really penalty from just dropping out of the course at any time for any reason. MOOCs are a fascinating experiment, and while some MOOCs clearly have a way to go to fully leverage the full and already available possibilities of a quality engaging online education, that is not the fundamental reason for low completion rates. MOOC providers need to figure out how to secure learning commitments from students. And to play the contrarian on this issue, I would argue that the top retention tools of traditional higher education have been tuition cost, admissions standards, and verifiable transcripts, not the quality of course design (and I mean course design principles as opposed to faculty reputation). 

I learned many fascinating things while taking a series of free online college courses over the last few months. In my history class, I learned there was a Japanese political plot to assassinate Charlie Chaplin in 1932. In my genetics class, I learned that the ability to wiggle our ears is a holdover from animal ancestors who could shift the direction of their hearing organs.

But the first thing I learned? When it comes to Massive Open Online Courses, like those offered byCoursera, Udacity and edX, you can forget about the Socratic method.

In terms of most HE institutions, DI would really only enable them catch up with 30 years of using technology to do what they have always done, and resisting any significant changes.

The 'I' in the above is Mark Smithers. Although you really miss the voice that goes with the slides, the slides themselves already provide a lot of food for thought. There's one comment I would like to add to what Anne already said.

I am starting the feel uneasy about the term 'disruptive innovation'. As a descriptive term of past events it probably makes good sense, but as a label for current events, such as the mushrooming of MOOCs, it almost takes on a prescriptive guise. Its use almost implies that universities should stop thinking about their future, there is no point doing so as there is none.  MOOCs being a disruptive innovation are bound to take over from them. To be sure, Mark doesn't say so, indeed, he discusses reactions universities should have. However, pictures like the one of a huge, grounded ship easily evoke an image of inability timely to change course. Before you know it, such descriptions become self-fulilling prophecies (something which of course some people are only too keen to emphasise, as is evidenced by another one of this week's scoops of mine: http://sco.lt/89vrjF) (@pbsloep)

H817 students. A lot of points made that are relevant to what we are doing at the moment. I share the same sentiments as Anne Whaits and feel that we'll be seeing more diversity in the future, or as Smither's terms it 'Multiversity'.

I heard an interesting comment from one of my advanced English language students today in response to the topic, 'Young people have too many opportunities nowadays'. Her reply was, 'No that's not true, we have choices. We have more choices now that suit different learners. I think it's great.'

Perhaps we need to listen more intensely to the student voice?

Excellent article about the differences in the Pedagogic models: xMOOCs and cMOOCs, followed by two Coursera courses.

I would be quite interested in some research about the learning effect of MOOCs

I still think I'm not prepared enough...

add your insight...Il est grand temps de s'y mettre!

On y est déjà !?

Finally, a literature review.

Also see the @pbsloep's commentary on his original scoop.

Need a long rainy day to read all this great stuff.  So wave of the future or tsunami ready to hit and hurt and then leave?

Can connectivism contribute to a more evidence based form of educational reform?

Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories.

In a knowledge economy, the flow of information is the equivalent of the oil pipe in an industrial economy…

The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe. Our ability to learn what we need for tomorrow is more important than what we know today. A real challenge for any learning theory is to actuate known knowledge at the point of application. When knowledge, however, is needed, but not known, the ability to plug into sources to meet the requirements becomes a vital skill. As knowledge continues to grow and evolve, access to what is needed is more important than what the learner currently possesses.

I do agree. We need learn how to learn on line.

Quelles problématiques l'enseignement en ligne soulève-t-il ? Quelles compétences les étudiants doivent-il développer ? Cette présentation nous donne quelques élèments de réponse, en se fondant sur l'étude "Ten Years of Trancking Online Education". (University of Southern Queensland - Pas de date)