Personal Blogs

Future Learn

I began my MOOC adventure by proving Jordan right and almost immediately dropped out of the first course I enrolled on.  The completion rate for most MOOCs is around 10%(Liyanagunawardena et al, 2013).  I quickly realised this course wasn’t going to meet my needs, so I left – guilt free – because I hadn’t had to pay for it.  My next enrolment was done with more care and ease via the user-friendly course menu.  I selected a course that was both relevant and challenging to me professionally.

I discovered on the first webpage 3 links to books written by the course experts, the latter two costing more than £90 each.  Could this be, as Watter's suggests, a new revenue stream for authors (Watters, 2013)?   Also on this page were directions towards printable versions of this course, which disheartened me more.  If I was hoping for a social interaction on this course, I suspected I would be disappointed.  I was.  I enjoyed the freedom to skip over areas of the course that weren’t relevant, such as how to use the library (puzzling because self-directed discovery and critical analysis was never required).  The material was presented in a cognitivist frame, with text reinforced by videos and the “three-strikes-and-you’re-out”format of assessment quizzes was clear behaviourism. 

I will continue with the course, largely because it will look good in my e-portfolio and my appraiser likes to see things like this when he ticks the box to say I’m fit to practice medicine.  I’ll learn a few facts, but my clinical practice will only really change when I use that knowledge in the social context of my community of practice.  It’s a shame I couldn’t have done that in the course and perhaps my patients would be benefitting from the learning sooner.

Ds106

In comparison to the FutureLearn MOOC, ds106 is chaotic and exciting.  My appraiser would hate it (making the devil in me love it more).   Where FutureLearn is neat and clean and easy to navigate, ds106 is rather messy and overwhelming.  FutureLearn takes you by the hand and says “don’t be afraid”: ds106 is like bungee jumping into learning.  The language of ds106 is exhilarating – terming the ongoing, open version “headless” is simply terrifying – and the dark background, red typeface and impactful graphics reinforces this.  This reflects the vibrancy of social interactions and a sense of innovation and creativity that is completely absent on FutureLearn.  Just look at ds106's innovative assignment bank and daily creative challenge it hosts on Twitter (#tdc1560).

I also realised that I felt much “safer” on ds106 than I did on FutureLearn.  In the forum I felt I could be myself, speak in my own words, admit my mistakes and learn from them. Navigating ds106 is hard work, but this somehow made me want to be part of something bigger than my own learning needs.  For now I’m in that place of legitimate peripheral participation Lave and Wenger, 1991) but even here I’ve expanded my horizons more than I did on the week I spent with FutureLearn.  I don’t yet know exactly what I what to learn on ds106 – all I know is that I want to stay and play on this MOOC. 

Which MOOC for me?

My decision is rather boring and predictable.  The answer is both.  With FutureLearn I know the investment of time and effort will be productive. I don’t need certification for my professional development, although I do have to demonstrate reflective learning in my e-portfolio.  Will it generate innovations in my practice?  Unlikely.  If I want to transform the way I do what I do and make new and exciting learning discoveries, ds106 is the way to go.  This scares me and it will no doubt scare the healthcare managers and senior clinicians more.  

MOOCs are like everything else in learning and indeed in life.  They come in many forms and it’s for the learner to use them to suit their needs and - that devil in me hates to admit it -  those of their others. 

References:

Until I began my MAODE study I hadn't considered openness in education beyond the price tag (or rather lack of it).  If it was available online (so I didn't have to take time off work) vaguely relevant to my learning needs and without charge, then I considered it open.  My colleagues were firmly of the opinion that this made it inferior to face-to-face teaching (but that's a different story). 

It was only when one of my fellow students on the H800 discussion board pointed me towards the Paris OER declaration that I realised that openness means far more than acquiring knowledge online for free. Openness incorporates the concepts of remixing, reusing and repurposing educational material - putting it out there for others to take, tinker with, remodel, improve and then give back.  It's about sharing and creating.

I decided I had to get to grips with this, so jumped at the chance to do a MOOC through a well known (and shall remain nameless) medical charity.  I duly registered and received an email from the course leader suggesting that this course wasn't for me.  I wasn't the "right" type of student.  So much for openness and inclusivity.  I persuaded the organiser to let me join - just in time as places were reaching the limit of...40.  Hardly massive.  There was nothing to remix or repurpose.  All resources were encased in intellectual property rights, with not a creative commons licence in sight.  That said, it was a great learning experience. Asynchronous discussions were lively, informative, supportive and polite.  I learnt a lot and it's changed my practice at work. 

Then I enrolled in the School for Health and Care Radicals, which comprised webcasts, Tweetchats, slideshare, pinterest...all aimed at creating boundary-spanning, barrier-crossing change.  Openness was in abundance.  Resources were shared and modified with enthusiasm and every chat-box and comments sections were brimming.  It was overwhelming and at times chaotic.  But it was liberating.  And the experience did not finish when the course came to an end.  I met new people who still send me tweets and occasionally Skype.  We share links, pictures and blogs and through the School I've been invited to contribute to the occasional project and conference.  I've even mentored others in subsequent editions of the programme.  None of this is possible if you aren't open to the opportunities created when you share and work together on a massive scale.