open education 2013

MOOCs: How did we get here? George Siemens

Nov 6, 2013

1.Bit of history2.Bit about current

state3.Bit of angst4.Bit of hope

1.Bit of history2.Bit about current

state3.Bit of angst4.Bit of hope

The core components of the current design (used for my Fall 2007 Intro to Open Ed course) include:

• Running everything in the open

Openness and transparency created a space of innovation and ability to build on what others were

doing

An alternative to

Institutional controlled technologiesMonolithic self-contained/locked-in platformsTransmission pedagogies

Metal workers: cylinders

SteamWheelsMotion

Transportation need

Viability

Scientific progress

Entrepreneurship

“a thousand threads that lead from the locomotive to the very beginning of the modern world”

Rosen, 2010

“The process may be more like stitching together known parts

than pioneering a complete route from scratch”

W. Bryan Arthur, 2006

Simply: We need open, accessible, buildable, improvable, extendable,

remixable, content, curriculum, pedagogy, and learning systems

http://edutechnica.com/moocmap/

http://edutechnica.com/moocmap/

But it’s not all new

Distance Education

Frederick Jackson Turner: U of Wisc: correspondence late 1800

“Composition through the medium of the post” 1833 (see Simonson et al, p. 37)

Anna Eliot Ticknor:Society to Encourage Studies at Home, 1873

CTV: 1966-1983Degree-level coursesUniversity partnershipsDelivered 6:00-9:00 am

Continental Classroom

NBC: 1958-1963

1.Bit of history2.Bit about current

state3.Bit of angst4.Bit of hope

So, why MOOCs? Why now?

MOOCs:

A supply-side answer to decades of change in demand-side learning needs

McKinsey Quarterly, 2012

Increasing diversity of student profiles

The U.S. is now in a position when less than half of students could be considered fulltime students. In other words, students who can attend campus five days a week nine-to-five, are now a minority.

(Bates, 2013)

Favours women over menMore learners as % (up to 60%)Average entrance age increasingTop three countries for entering students:

China, India, USATraditional science courses waning in popularityGreater international student

OECD 2013

What is happening in MOOC research?

Phase 1 Stats266 total submissions37 countries represented

Top countries:- USA- Canada- China- UK- Spain- Australia

http://www.moocresearch.com/

Phase 2 Stats

78 total submissions15 countries represented

Top Countries:- USA- Canada- UK- China- Australia

Methodologies per field

Final selectionMOOC platforms represented:

- Coursera: 12- edX: 4- Multiple: 5- Non-Major: 6

Countries: 4 (USA, Canada, UK, Australia)Institutions: ~28

1.Bit of history2.Bit about current

state3.Bit of angst4.Bit of hope

What worries me about MOOCs (and whatever follows after)

1. Most MOOCs don’t prepare learners to create, generate, solve, innovate

We need stuff that stirs the soul.

(learning to code to optimize web clicks does not address society’s most pressing challenges)

What should MOOCs do?a. Respond to learning needs of society that universities are missing

b. Prepare learners for complex knowledge activities to address growing and urgent needs of society

Currently do a) but not b)

We are not getting the “type of learning” that we need for the types of challenges that we (society) faces

2. Openness is being lost

“Easy” will usually win over open and complex

What happened

between here

MIT OpenCourseWare makes the materials used in the teaching of almost all of MIT's subjects available on the Web, free of charge. With more than 2,000 courses available, OCW is delivering on the promise of open sharing of knowledge.

and here?

All content or other materials available on the Sites, including but not limited to code, images, text, layouts, arrangements, displays, illustrations, audio and video clips, HTML files and other content are the property of Coursera and/or its affiliates or licensors and are protected by copyright, patent and/or other proprietary intellectual property rights under the United States and foreign laws.

or here

All of our educational content can be reused according to the Creative Commons licensing that we have adopted and where this logo is seen:

and here?

The Online Content and Courses IPR is protected to the fullest extent possible by copyright laws. All such rights are reserved.

3. Lack of Innovation

Settling too soon on pedagogies and models (normalizing to edX/Coursera).

Once we have a revenue model, future innovation will serve that model. (i.e. Google adwords)

What about a revenue/business model?

Who cares.

What about high dropout rates?

Who cares.

Still trying to define the new system by the metrics and methods of the old

4. MOOC providers disconnected from existing learning sciences & related research communities

-The efficacy of online learning-The importance of retrieval and testing for learning-Mastery Learning-Peer assessments-Active learning in the classroom

1.Bit of history2.Bit about current

state3.Bit of angst4.Bit of hope

Today in education, we are witnessing an unbundling of previous network structures.

And a rebundling of new network lock-in models.

MOOCs are a keystone concept in reformulating education models and creating new ecosystems

But the landscape can still be shaped

MOOCsNow reach 7+ million learners

(side note, over 21 million distance learners)Hundreds of millions of $$ invested Hundreds/thousands of academics involvedMedia exposure in mainstream publications

Learning/education is now a prominent public conversation

MOOCs as generative, knowledge-building learning is not yet lost

Downes, 2013 (Antalya, Turkey presentation)

http://www.moocresearch.com/

ConferenceDecember 5-6, 2013University of Texas Arlington

Twitter/Gmail: gsiemens