MOOCs: Is There “Academic Respect” for Online Education?

Yesterday, I was listening to Tom Ashbrook’s NPR show “OnPoint” where they were discussing online education, more specifically how MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) fit into the whole online education process.

With Mr. Ashbrook was Mark Taylor, Chair of the Religion Department of Columbia University and author of “End of the University as We Know It,” also, Jeff Selingo (@jselingo), from The Chronicle of Higher Education and author of “College (Un)Bound” (future publish: 2013) and John Mitchell, Chair of Stanford University’s Online Education Department.

The discussion concerned itself with the efficacy of online education as opposed to a strict on-campus experience. The discussion went through the normal justifications of online education, such as “economies of scale,” convenience and self-pacing. And one of the critical findings of the discussion lead to the fact that a “hybrid experience” (both on and offline) is awaiting most future students.

Over the past year Stanford University’s MOOCs have created great “press” for the university in a number of ways. Last year Stanford offered three courses online to the general public, and the subjects were: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Introduction to Databases.  This was not light reading by any means, but the enrollment was in the hundreds of thousands — and if it were not for robbo-graders — it would have been impossible to accomplish. As the result of this — no doubt — two Stanford professors, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng (the Professor who taught the Machine Learning MOOC) announced a new start-up business, Coursera. Koller and Ng have raised $16 million in startup funds and have secured the cooperation of Princeton and Stanford, and the Universities of Pennsylvania and Michigan. (1)  With over a million students already enrolled with Coursera, it seems that MOOC’s are here to stay.

One of the main features MOOCs have been credited for is that they are open and the level of connection and collaboration by participants online is their main ingredient. The positive learning experience is at the heart of these learning events. The best known MOOCs are CCK08, PLENK2010, DS106, which had multiple facilitators. The most recent developments in MOOCs have resembled more traditional courses. (2)

Although the courses generally do not have specific requirements — all MOOCs provide rough timelines in the form of weekly discussions. The rest of the structure can be simple – often made up of a weekly presentation on the current topic, discussion questions, and suggested resources.

“In recognition that those attending a MOOC are expected to make the course their own, guidance tends to focus on allowing curriculum and structure to emerge from the exchange between participants. Posting in discussions, reflecting on topical ideas, and sharing resources using a variety of social media are at the core of the MOOC learning process.” (3)

MOOCs are based on several principles stemming from “connectivist pedagogy.” (4) (ARRFF)

1. Aggregation. The whole point of a MOOC is to provide a starting point for a massive amount of content to be produced in different places online, which is later aggregated as a newsletter or a web page accessible to participants on a regular basis. This is in contrast to traditional courses, where the content is prepared ahead of time.
2. Remixing. That is, associating materials created within the course with each other and with materials elsewhere.
3. Re-purposing. Of aggregated and remixed materials to suit the goals of each participant.
4. Feeding Forward. That is, sharing of re-purposed ideas and content with other participants and the rest of the world.

An earlier list (2005) of “Connectivist Principles”(5) from Siemens also informs the pedagogy behind MOOCs:

• Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions.

• Learning is a process of connecting specialised nodes or information sources.

• Learning may reside in non-human appliances.

• Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known.

• Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

• Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill.

• Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities.

• Decision making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

It seems that the older I get the more I see people (including my students) taking short-cuts to get to their intended destinations.  There doesn’t seem to be any patience in reveling in the “process” anymore. I think when I was an undergrad, I endeavored to be at least three or four majors before I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Anthropology. In so many ways it was more about the reflection of the process than the process itself. That being said, we have to acknowledge the role that expense comes into play and that college educational costs are out of control. MOOCS just might be the way that students will complete part of their education (hybrid) in a process that will look very different from what we see today.

Further reading: http://www.tonybates.ca/2012/08/05/whats-right-and-whats-wrong-about-coursera-style-moocs/

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(1) http://hackeducation.com/2012/04/18/coursera

(2) Massive open online course. (2012, September 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:24, September 12, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Massive_open_online_course&oldid=511723070

(3) McAuley, A., Stewart, B., Siemens, G., and Cormier.D., "The MOOC model for digital practice", University of Prince Edward Island, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council's Knowledge synthesis grants on the Digital Economy (2010)

( 4) Downes, Stephen "'Connectivism' and Connective Knowledge", Huffpost Education, January 5, 2011, accessed July 27, 2011
^ Kop, Rita "The challenges to connectivist learning on open online networks: Learning experiences during a massive open online course", International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Volume 12, Number 3, 2011, accessed November 22nd, 2011
^ Bell, Frances "Connectivism: Its Place in Theory-Informed Research and Innovation in Technology-Enabled Learning", International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Volume 12, Number 3, 2011, accessed July 31, 2011
^ Downes, Stephen. "Learning networks and connective knowledge", Instructional Technology Forum, 2006, accessed July 31, 2011

(5) http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/934