Category: online learning

Donna Murdoch, Higher Ed, MOOC, online learning, social learning

How MOOCs Could Reform Education Completely by Accident

When we saw the first reports about MOOCs and lack of  completion, many of us were not surprised.  We were also not surprised to see the demographic statistics – more than half of the learners in most courses had undergraduate degrees, and a large percentage had masters degrees and many even higher.  This article from The Atlantic discusses something that may be happening subliminally (or purposefully) – my suspicion is that teachers don’t think “I’m going to do some professional development now” or “I’m going to watch a master teacher teach my class” as this article suggests.  I do think that getting new ideas for classes is important, and both teachers and professors are probably  participating in MOOCs for that reason, to a degree.

I would also propose that they participate for the social aspect – to meet other educators and like minded people who like to learn.  I wrote an article in Medium over a year ago making an analogy between MOOCs and large scale online games (MMORPGs) because I saw learning as enjoyable for this population, much like games.

It’s a good article, and worth reading.

“What jumped out for me was that … as many as 39 percent of our learners [in MOOCs overall] are teachers,” said Isaac Chuang, one of the study’s lead researchers. In some of Harvard’s MOOCs, half the students were teachers. And in “Leaders of Learning”—a course out of its Graduate School of Education—a whopping two-thirds of participants identified as such.

via How MOOCs Could Reform Education Completely by Accident – The Atlantic.

Donna Murdoch, educational technology, eLearning, Higher Ed, New Pedagogies, online learning

Blended Learning, Digital Equity, Skills-based Economy

When I started reading this article by Jim Shimabukuro, I didn’t agree with its premise.   “Still, he states, the biggest problem with blended approaches, innovative or not, isn’t as much its effectiveness but its impact on completely online courses.”    No, I thought.  That’s not right.  Blended courses  are, in terms of efficacy research, optimum but really modality and delivery should not matter at all.  A course is a course – it’s the pedagogy that matters.  Whether a course is online or face to face – the same problems and challenges exist.  Good learning is good learning.   And then he said, when referring to blended learning:

“This seemingly innocuous perception is arguably the greatest impediment to the development of completely online courses and programs. The F2F imperative, whether 20 percent or 1 percent, instantly eliminates the possibility of disruption that defines online learning. In other words, the door for nontraditional students who cannot, for whatever reason, attend classes on campus remains closed. ”

And that statement is absolutely right.  Even when an online program has a small residency component, there are some people who will not be able to participate.  In terms of quality of course, modality doesn’t matter.  Access is a different story.

 

via Blended Learning, Digital Equity, Skills-based Economy | Educational Technology and Change Journal.

Donna Murdoch, educational technology, eLearning, Higher Ed, online learning

Are you Ready to Teach Online? Readiness Surveys Aim to Help Faculty Prepare

Excellent article from Debbie Morrison discussing the instruments we have available for assessing faculty readiness to teach online.    Penn State and University of Washington both have surveys, but Debbie adds some of her ideas.   The article, with link at the bottom, shares good ideas.

A. Parasuraman’s Technology Readiness Index is an interesting indicator as well, though not originally intended for online instruction.

1.  Technology and Social Media Skills: Technology skills are fundamental, and though social media skills not an essential, they enhance the instructor’s ability to connect with students. Skills include: ♦ basic computer skills ♦  proficiency with software applications ♦ installing/updating software and plug-ins ♦ internet search literacy ♦ proficiency with features and functions within the LMS including uploading files, grading tools and grade book ♦ LMS tools for asynchronous/synchronous communication ♦ familiarity with platforms for communication/engagement outside of LMS, e.g. Pinterest, Twitter, Google+

2.  Administrative and Organization Skills: Includes skills such as time management e.g. ability and willingness to respond to student questions with immediacy e.g. within  24 hours ♦ provide constructive feedback on student assignments in timely manner ♦ proficiency with grade book and ability to submit grades by required ♦ monitor/follow-up with academic integrity issues

3. Pedagogical Skills and Teaching Approach: ♦ student focused learning model ♦ instructor focus on supporting and guiding learning not delivering content and instruction ♦ providing constructive feedback ♦ establishing and sustaining online presence

via Are you Ready to Teach Online? Readiness Surveys Aim to Help Faculty Prepare | Online Learning Insights.

Donna Murdoch, educational technology, eLearning, Higher Ed, online learning, Open Resources

Here’s What Will Truly Change Higher Education: Online Degrees That Are Seen as Official

Digital credentials, such as badges or other open credentialing, are discussed in this NYT article which frames the traditional diploma as opaque.  What does it mean?  The work done for the degree is not apparent, the quality or what differentiates a job applicant from many others. “Diplomas and transcripts provide few means of distinguishing the great from the rest….”  Digital credentials can solve the problem, as they are more specific and can related directly  to necessary work competencies.   They are transparent and provide much more information about what was involved in achieving the credential.

I agree with the points made in the article.  I’m just not sure how fast a change like this can happen.  There are some industries that might be more likely to shift their mindset and adapt to digital credentials, but there are far more that have been using degrees and schools as a preliminary filter for many years.  It would require an entire education of the HR industry to understand what these new credentials mean, how to utilize the transparency, the power of  online learning – even traditional degrees earned online still carry stigma – and what digital artifacts and assurances of learning really portray.  There are many sides to new types of credentialing – educating the schools, the students, and the people who will ultimately hire them.

 

“Most important, traditional college degrees are deeply embedded in government regulation and standard human resources practice. It doesn’t matter how good a teacher you are — if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree, it’s illegal for a public school to hire you. Private-sector employers often use college degrees as a cheap and easy way to select for certain basic attributes, mostly the discipline and wherewithal necessary to earn 120 college credits.”

via Here’s What Will Truly Change Higher Education: Online Degrees That Are Seen as Official – NYTimes.com.

Donna Murdoch, eLearning, mobile learning, New Pedagogies, online learning, Open Resources

Workplace Performance: Embedding Learning in Work: The Benefits and Challenges

 

        

Organizations with strong informal learning capabilities (Bersin) are 300% more likely to excel at global talent development than organizations without those competencies.  It’s no wonder.  We learn best in context, and using ADDIE or a formal learning course usually does not embed learning in work.   Having short learnings available at point of need, or as performance support, is a way of filling in the gaps of experience.  This can improve not only individual performance, but team and organizational performance as well.  Article by Charles Jennings.

 

“A common finding that has emerged from study after study over the past few years is that learning which is embedded in work seems to be more effective than learning away from work. If people learn as part of the workflow then this learning is more likely to impact performance in a positive way.”

via Charles Jennings | Workplace Performance: Embedding Learning in Work: The Benefits and Challenges.

Donna Murdoch, educational technology, MOOC, New Pedagogies, online learning, Open Resources, social learning

From Courses to Communities

The long tail of open learning – free online courses of any type, cMOOCs, xMOOCs – is the community that forms around each one.  This has been my personal experience, and one we don’t usually hear discussed.  The course may not ever be completed, but the people we virtually bump into often share common interests and become a part of our PLNs.  In some cases we already know them from other virtual learning environments.  Interests intersect, and we bump into others – nodes in our networks.  This has been so valuable.  This article is from DML Central.

“When I started collaborating with Mitchel Resnick and Natalie Rusk at the MIT Media Lab we set out to design and offer a somewhat different online course. It would be easy to say now that creating an online learning community was our intention from the start, but the truth is, we were a little surprised ourselves, surprised and excited. Learning Creative Learning, the online course we created, became a springboard for learning with family, friends, and colleagues and turned into an ongoing community.”

via From Courses to Communities | DMLcentral.

Donna Murdoch, educational technology, Higher Ed, online learning

Instructional Design Based on Cognitive Theory

 

There are a number of instructional design and cognitive theories, but Florida Institute of Technology is using Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multi-Media Learning for instructional design.

“This theory posits the following:

The brain processes auditory and visual information differently

There are limits to how much auditory and visual information people can process

People must be actively engaged in order to move knowledge from working memory to long-term memory”

While seemingly an expanded view of experiential or action learning, both theories were developed long before recorded audio and video were being used extensively for learning.  Processing of audio and video is very different, and the theory suggests that video images provides an extra layer of difficulty (or required filter) to process content that might inhibit learning.

Recommendations for efficacy are recommended:

“Short, focused lessons

Proper balance of text, image, and narration

Avoid distractions

Think like an instructional designer”

Full article at Faculty Focus, link below.

 

via Instructional Design Based on Cognitive Theory | Faculty Focus.

Donna Murdoch, New Pedagogies, online learning

15 Questions To Help Students Respond To New Ideas

 

In learning and its design, we have always referred to essential or generative questions.  Through the use of questions, deeper learning objectives are often recognized.  Thoughts are generated and connections are made.  In TeachThought, Terry Heick asks us to think about how we can use questions in ways that work best with the Google generation.  Information is ubiquitous, but helping them slow down to navigate information requires supporting them.  Using these questions is a way of teaching them to think. “Metacognition isn’t a matter of a “lesson,” or a teacher telling students it’s something they should do. Rather, it’s a matter of habit. Habits are everything. So, below are 15 questions to help students respond to new ideas, and begin to establish the kinds of habits that make thinkers, and just maybe, starting telling you what you want to hear.”

via 15 Questions To Help Students Respond To New Ideas.