Digital Delights

"Me, MOOCs and pedagogy

I was the last speaker in this session and focused on the pedagogy of MOOCs, and suggested some ways in which they could be improved, based on 25 years of research in online learning. In summary the basic points I made are as follows:

• MOOCs face several challenges, in particular low completion rates, problems with student  assessment, especially for assessment that requires qualitative or essay-type answers, and poor Internet access in developing countries
• there is 25 years of experience and research into what works and what doesn’t in online learning
• by and large, this knowledge is not being applied to the design of edX or Coursera MOOCs, which are based mainly on video recordings of classroom lectures
• paying more attention to pedagogical issues and instructional design could help mitigate some of the challenges
• in particular more attention needs to be paid to skills development, knowledge construction/deep learning and learner support
• research should focus on course designs that focus on skills development rather than the transmission of information, on how to scale up learner support and oncosting models that provide resources for improved learner support
• MOOCs should not be ‘second best’ for developing countries, replacing more locally based provision
• for all this to happen, computer specialists and educators/instructional designers need to work together as equals"