MOOCS @ UCTJANET SMALL

MOOC IMPLEMENTATION TEAM

CENTRE FOR INNOVATION IN LEARNING & TEACHING

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

May 2015

Introduction & definitions

MOOCs in relation to the Higher Education

course landscape

Global MOOC platforms

UCT MOOCs

Social learning on a large scale

Nuts and bolts

Challenges… and opportunities

Massive

• Have many thousands participanting

Open

• Open enrollment

Online

• Everything is online

Course

• Courses with a structured learning pathway

M O O C

Continuum of online learning

a continuum

Downloadable educational digital content (ITunes, YouTube, digital

textbooks)

Informal teaching and courses

(MOOCs, open courses, self-study

courses, Lynda.com)

Fully structured online courses with assessments and

qualifications

2000 - 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Open

education

Online

distance

learning

Open

education

resources

Open

conten

t

Connectivist

MOOC

(cMOOCs)

iTunes U,

Khan

Academy

Open source

software

Learning

management

systems

MIT – Open

Courseware

Consortium

Open

University -

OpenLearn

Stanford

xMOOCs

Udacity

Coursera

MITx edX

FutureLearn

NovoEd

OpenUp

Ed

Open to Study

Open

Universities

Australia

Directly related An influence

Learnin

g

objectsOpen Textbooks

Adapted by Hodgkinson-Williams 2014 from UNESCO

2013

Cape Town OE

Declaration

Paris OER

Declaration

Mapping the course landscape

conventional flexible

FORMAL

SEMI-FORMAL

NON-FORMAL

Lectures &

tutorials

Short courses

Summer school

Blended courses Online courses

Professional development

courses

MOOC related

variants

The post-traditional teaching and learning landscape

Online Course MOOC

Numbers: Participant numbers capped

by facilitation and assessment

resourcing

MOOCs have attracted 10 000s by having

almost no individual support

Motivation: Participants earn a

qualification

Participants selectively take what interests

them from a MOOC

Participants: Often have similar

backgrounds

Often very diverse backgrounds

Assessment: Meets accreditation

standards

Assessment standards less rigorous and

not accredited

Cost: Pay to join course Participants access the course for free,

paying for internet connection and

optionally certificates

Lecturer: Responsible for teaching a

curriculum aligned to a qualification,

asssessing learning and providing

support

Lecturer’s role prominent in course design

but limited during course running, and

excludes individual support

Teaching & learning interaction

Assessment & certification

Content

Traditionally: a single package

Time Space

Disaggregation

Content

Teaching & learning interaction

Certification

Time Platform

Global MOOC platforms

Phenomenal growth

http://edutechnica.com/moocmap

Showing the growth of university providers of

MOOCs from 2012 – 2013 through global

MOOC platforms…but little from developing

countries.

UCT MOOCs

Goals of UCT MOOCs project

To showcase the teaching and research excellence

of UCT

To give exposure to African content and knowledge

To profile key postgraduate programmes and

research areas aligned with the university’s strategic

goals

To support students in academic transitions

To make UCT’s knowledge resources globally

accessible

To develop models and expertise in online learning

that could be deployed in mainstream degree

programmes

Showcase teaching

and introduce topics with

high-profile ‘rockstar’

presenters

Introduce fields and

support students in

undergraduate

study

Develop skills and

introduce topics for

postgraduate

study.

Showcase research

and special interest

topics of interest to

postgraduate level

Showcase professional

careers for continuing

education and qualifications

Showcase teaching

and introduce topics with

high-profile ‘rockstar’

presenters

Introduce fields and

support students in

undergraduate

study

Develop skills and

introduce topics for

postgraduate

study.

Showcase research

and special interest

topics of interest to

postgraduate level

Showcase professional

careers for continuing

education and qualifications

What is a Mind?

Medicine & the

Arts

Conducting

Healthcare

Research

Applied Statistical

Modelling

Mitigating Climate

Change

Inclusive Education

in low income

countries

Social Innovation

shaping Africa

Medicine and the Arts

6 weeks and 77 steps

17 presenters

Over 8 000 signed up

98 countries

26% African countries (21% South African)

Rerunning later this year

Just

finished

What is a Mind?

6 weeks

62 steps with videos, readings and

discussions

1 presenter and 4 mentors

Over 12 000 signed up (and counting)

94 countries

16% African countries (14% South African)

Just

started

Medicine and the Arts: HumanisingHealthcare

Explore the field of medical humanities - the intersection of

the arts, humanities and healthcare - with this free online

course.

Africa26%

Asia5%

Australia5%

Europe52%

North America

10%

South America2%

Medicine and the Arts:

Continents

21% SA

6% US

38% UK

Medicine and the Arts:

Countries

What is A Mind?: Continents

Africa16%

Asia5%

Australia3%

Europe53%

North America

19%

South America4%

14% SA

15% US

36% UK

What is A Mind? Survey:

Countries

Social learning on a large scale

FutureLearn Weeks and Steps Week

structure

Steps

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

E-mail

reminders

at start of

weeks

Comment Posted by Date

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Nuts and bolts

Process & roll-out

Identifying an academic or team of academics willing to devote the necessary time to the project

Constituting a course development team (online learning designers, academics & student assistants from department who will be offering course)

Initiate course design

Course production schedule

Test materials

Launch course

Running/supporting/monitoring

Evaluation

Challenges

Who takes MOOCs…

“… the people most likely to stay the course and

gain a free qualification are well-educated men

in their 30s working in professional jobs.

Research by MOOC provider Coursera shows

that 85% of MOOC participants already have

university degrees.

So the problem MOOCs succeed in solving is: to

provide free university teaching for highly

qualified professionals. (Diana Laurrilard)”

http://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/what-is-the-problem-for-which-moocs-are-the-solution/

Why many don’t…

Infrastructure. People don’t live within range of sufficient physical infrastructure that would allow it.

Affordability. People cannot afford the cost of access.

Relevance. People are not aware of the internet or there is insufficient content available in their primary language.

P. 4, Executive Summary in the ‘State of Connectivity: 2014’, A report on global internet access. Internet.org (www.internet.org)

Perspectives on MOOCs

Participants

Institutional researchers

Educators

What MOOCs exist and why might I want to do a MOOC?

What is there to learn from MOOCs?

How can I use MOOCs? Why are MOOCs useful?

Course offered simultaneously as a formal

and as a open course.

Small private open course nested inside a

MOOC

Massive Online Course: formal course

inspired by MOOC pedagogy

Students in a course taking a MOOC with

added local support and additional material

Massive Open Online Course

Formal course with lectures and

support.

Acknowledgements

Laura Czerniewicz

Andrew Deacon

Mary-Ann Fife

Sukaina Walji

CILT

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za

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