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Interview with Dave Cormier and George Siemens by David Weller

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1G4SUblnbo&feature=player_embedded

MOOC – Massive Open Online Courses

• 2008 first use of MOOC which used: forums; blogging and popular social media at that time.
• Teaching in a transparent way to see what happened
• Initially 25 learners working towards credits and 2300 free to follow resources
• Semi-planned and allowed for connection and access to information and data
• Mooc allows for affordance
• MASSIVE – when does it become massive (5 to 20 to 40 to 400 to 4000) no specific number but there must be a point where numbers demand a different way in delivery to ensure affordance
• OPENNESS – is the MOST important word.  Allows for multiple paths and ways to individualise the learning journey and ensures variety
• COURSE – allows people to become together as without planning a specific time or schedule it may never happen.  Being part of a course makes learners feel part of something, be a member of something and allow people to come together
• With MOOCs drop-out rate is high but registry is high too
• Measurement of what is success for MOOC’s not yet suitable as there may be many different ways of success (i.e. someone may not finish the course but connect with someone who has influence and positive change in the future)
• Passion of users can play a positive influence in ONLINE courses just as much if not more than experts
• Facilitators may burn out with contributions and content and when this occurs the trend is that this can lead to participant drop out.  MOOCs need to pace it and contributors to need to share the mental stimulation
• Openness allows for ‘half-baked’ ideas to be trialled and contribution to evolve future delivery
• MOOCs allows for pedagogical change
• MOOCs allows the skill of Connectivism and users/learners to learn HOW to deal with significant volumes of information, ideas and values
• MOOCs allow for openness of the curriculum and allow for quick response to needs and ideas
• MOOCs  allow for niche developments both in organisations and globally – they can adapt brilliantly for specific needs
• MASSIVE is an important element as numbers are needed for the course to evolve and to share a breadth of ideas and views
• Future direction of MOOCs – MOOC gives a name to something that has been happening and more structure to it.  Will not give everything and there is still the need for some direction.  MOOCs could allow  for  Universities to do this more and better as the initial skills that normally are developed in year 1 of Uni life could be significantly developed with this type of delivery
• Embedd and adopt technology into institutions from educational leadership
• Weaving together new models that emulate the structure  of the internet rather than working against it for the future
• Role of education and HE in society so that the education system becomes something understood and to allow MOOC and education to contribute to this need.  No  need for knee jerk reaction
• RESEARCH, TEST, ANALYSE and IMPLEMENT

In terms of the adoption of this model in Further Education and Work Based Learning, some aspects certainly could be applied.  For example for Openness we have Innovation Codes that allow for the development of courses that are not accredited but secure funding.  This allows for delivery and trial which includes feedback from learners to evolve and develop the mode of delivery for the future.  Additionally as the course can be delivered at no cost to the learner (due to funding) there is flexibility to trial new things and some may work and some may not but learners seem to be readily happy and enthused to contribute to the development of a course.

Current Apprenticeship frameworks are rigid and therefore can limit some delivery models but this too is changing and some of the trail-blazing Sector Skill Councils are issueing new frameworks this summer/Autumn with some having no qualifications or specific assessment guidance but instead only offer finalised learning outcomes that will be measured at the end of the course.  How this knowledge and learning will take place will be placed more on the training provider rather than the traditional specific assessment criteria reviewed by awarding bodies with learning outcomes that need to be covered over time.

I think the issue of what is success is incredibly important.  If success is solely seen as achievement of learning outcomes then it restricts investigation and research into new ways of thinking and instead pigeon holes ideas and values to already set and cemented outcomes.  I love the idea of using the concept  of MOOC to research on what the learning outcome may need to be or that sometimes learners may not complete 100% of the course but they may have gained some insight or significant connection or knowledge that impact upon their views or future direction in life.

Working for an FE college the view right now is if pedagogically we don't change (as an institution rather than a few individuals) teaching will not be viable for many areas and that we need to form a combination of centralised and decentralised ideas that ensures that leadership offers an environment and culture where technology is embraced and placed at the heart of delivery whilst also offering creative freedom for curriculum to identify opportunities and make best use of the technology to meet their learners and their sectors needs.  As emphasised from research, education needs to contribute to society and if nothing else the use of MOOCs allows for the research and identification of what society needs and how best to meet this need. 

References:

Interview with Dave Cormier and George Siemens by David Weller Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1G4SUblnbo&feature=player_embedded