Social Network Analysis and Understanding of MOOCs

Dragan Gašević@dgasevic

Intentions of distributed MOOCs (aka cMOOCs)

Distribution of course control

“the engagement of learners who self-organize their participation according to learning goals, prior knowledge and skills, and common interests”

(McAuley, Stewart, Siemens, & Cormier, 2010)

Intentions of distributed MOOCs (aka cMOOCs)

Learners to “acquire learning for themselves, rather than have learning served to them by some provider or institute”

(Hollands, 2014)

Intentions of distributed MOOCs (aka cMOOCs)

Who/what influences information flows in a cMOOC?

What/who drives community formation in a cMOOC?

Method

Connectivism & Connective Knowledge 2011

Data from Twitter and demographics

Socio-technical approach to network analysis

Weekly network centrality measures and end-of-the course communities

Skrypnyk, O., Joksimović, S. Kovanović, V., Gasevic, D., Dawson, S. (2014). Roles of course facilitators, learners, and technology in the flow of information of a cMOOC. British Journal of Educational Technology (submitted).

Most influential nodes

Distribution of weighted input degree for weeks 1, 5, 6, and 12, for the top 10 ranked nodes within the last week

Node W1 W5 W6 W12

#cck11 29 861 1052 1982

#edchat 0 224 268 454

#eltchat 0 213 270 320

@profesortbaker 0 127 160 174

#edtech20 0 17 24 161

#edtech 0 60 72 154

#elearning 0 25 26 145

#education 0 54 62 110

#connectivism 2 27 31 100

#eadsunday 6 34 51 89

Network centers

Variation of the input closeness centrality values for the top ranked nodes, over the 12 weeks of the course

Network brokers

Variation of the betweenness centrality values for the top ranked nodes, over the 12 weeks of the course

Community formation

Network modularity

19 communities identified

Newman, M. E. (2006). Modularity and community structure in networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(23), 8577–8582.

Community formation

26%

Community formation

26% 25%

Community formation

12%

Community formation

12% 9%

Social network analysis to provide insights into

how a distributed course unfolds