towards e-presence at distance as a way to reach and share e-quality: the case of the eco smoocs...

Towards e-presence at distance as a way to

reach and share e-quality: the case of the

ECO sMOOCs

Divina Frau-Meigs, Sorbonne Nouvelle, CREWAdeline Bossu, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, MICA

Keywords: sMOOC · Quality · E-presence · Cognitive presence · Social presence · Designed presence · Model · distance · ECO project · sustainability · E-quality · Participants

Towards e-presence at distance as a way to reach and share e-quality: the case of the ECO sMOOCs

Divina Frau-Meigs & Adeline Bossu

Original approach to e-presence in social participatory MOOCs (or sMOOCs),

taking the case of EU-funded ECO project on sMOOCs.

Model for e-presence based on the different layers proposed by Garrison and

Anderson (2003):

- “cognitive presence” (emphasis on the reflexive)

- “social presence” (emphasis on the collaborative) to which

- “designed presence” is added (emphasis on the platform constraints and

opportunities) (Frau-Meigs 2013).



European project funded by European Commission

in Competitiveness and innovation framework programme

Theme 2: “digital satisfied, open dated and creativity”.

22 PARTNERS



The ECO project purports to design MOOCs that respond to the acquisition of

digital competences for inclusion (www.ecolearning.eu).

Main phases:

• The pedagogical model sMOOC

• 17 pilot sMOOCs with ECO diversified teams;

• Learners become e-teachers themselves, on the basis of their participation in

the pilot MOOCs, especially the sMOOC to learn how to make sMOOCs, the

“Step by Step”.

• E-teachers sMOOCs

http://www.ecolearning.eu



Pedagogical Design sMOOC

Recombines social-constructive approaches and connectivist approaches, with a

strong reliance on tutors and mediators emanating from a strong community of inquiry

(Siemens 2008; McAdam and McCreedy 2000).

cMOOC ‘Focus on community and connections’

Social ‘learning experience marked by social interactions and participation’

Pedagogical approach: connectivism, situated learning, socio-constructivism

Inclusion + Ubiquitous and mobile + Accessibility (special needs)

Learner- centred - flexibility - digital inclusion

Open licence policy

Wide variety of target populations

Diversity of purposes and local, contextual implementations



Producing the

17 sMOOC PILOTS + 9 additional ECO sMOOC

Ensuring the deployment and validation of the

sMOOC PILOT Year 1, 2 and 3

Planning – Implementation – Support

9 HUBS – 5 platforms – 6 languages

8 weeks duration

3 editions or more

Analysing and Improving of each pilot intermediate

results



External Partners sMOOC

Ensuring the deployment and validation of the

NEW sMOOC

e-teacher sMOOC

Pedagogical assistance

Technical assistance

Management assistance



One portal - 5 platforms - 6 languages

81 sMOOC

135 Iterations

56 500 participants

All contents available



IN ECO, THE LEVELS OF EMBEDDEDNESS OF THE THREE LAYERS OF E-

PRESENCE ARE ALL FULLY VISIBLE.

Model for e-presence based on the different layers proposed by Garrison and

Anderson (2003):

- “cognitive presence” (emphasis on the reflexive)

- “social presence” (emphasis on the collaborative) to which

- “designed presence” is added (emphasis on the platform

constraints and opportunities) (Frau-Meigs 2013).



In ECO, Cognitive presence is facilitated in the different postures the learner can opt

for. The sMOOC “DIY Media Information Literacy” proposes several pathways:

“explorer”, “analyst” and “creator”, buttressed on a roadmap and a cognitive

scaffolding

The sMOOC DIY MIL critical pathways



In ECO, social presence

• the extensive use of videos in sMOOCs and the links that point to other

participants as a kind of social network of affinities that also present the benefit

of fostering intercultural dialogue as visible in the sMOOC “Step by Step”.

• The “groups” functionality also allows to work and solve cases by getting

people to collaborate on projects

• Live events help sustain a shared social presence as well as the possibility for

the participants to “follow” each other and to geolocalize if they wish to meet

face to face as seen with the “PhDOOC”.

The group wall functionality with microblogging tool from the Step

by Step sMOOCA live-webconference from the sMOOC PhDOOC



In ECO, social presence

Besides, the internal social networks and the external commercial

networks allowed participants to express several levels of emotions

according to their felt level of privacy and public openness.

Social network graph indicating connection between learners



In ECO designed presence:

• the sMOOC Learning Lab,

• the sMOOC Step by Step.

They help the e-teachers and participants to mobilize their own cognitive scripts

and their reflexivity of their needs and functionalities available



This process of reflexivity on e-presence was first implemented and tested by

the creators of the platform and its content according to the participatory

sMOOC model.

When applied to e-teachers, the early teams endeavored to provide a similar

experience, all the more so as the e-teachers were participants and had an

early experience of learning via sMOOCs scheme.

E-teachers as well as their trainers were exposed to similar questions and

processes, the only difference being the scale and the level of reflexivity

(Hodgson and Reynolds, 2005; Wright, 2005). The same person then gets to

change status according to the phases of ECO in which she/he evolves.

This increases reflexivity, proximity, awareness of representations of

authority and knowledge, attention to others’ diversity.



To ensure e-quality, ECO partners:

Ensuring sustainability via shareable and transferable

templates

Evaluating intermediate and final assessment of the results

Ensuring scalability via learning spaces and dedicated

application

The contribution of e-presence to e-quality



CHECKLIST

Peer to Peer

assessment

Self-

assessment

Supervisor

assessment

3 levels

Ensuring e-quality

with other partners



To describe a

representative

sMOOC with the

pedagogical and

technical sMOOC

ECO features

sMOOC ECO GUIDE

Ensuring sustainability via shareable

and transferable templates



The sMOOC

Learning Lab

To train e-teachers and create

community

Tutorials Collaborative Spaces

Ensuring scalability via learning

spaces and dedicated application



The transversal sMOOCStep by Step (6 languages)

To train e-teachers and

create communities





THE ECO BACKOFFICE APPLICATION



For participants and future e-teachers



THE ECO BACKOFFICE APPLICATION



For HUBs and WP3



LEARNING ANALYTICS TOOLS

Evaluating intermediate and final

assessment of the results

LEARNING ANALYTICS GUIDE AND

MODEL



SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE

OVERALL EXPERIENCE

FURTHER MOOCS IN THE FUTURE?

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

All sMOOC Iterations

Analysis

Evaluating intermediate and final

assessment of the results



Rmk: Social presence is less emphasized in these tools because other

functionalities already existed a part and parcel of the platform used (chats, forums,

….) and social networks used in parallel for communication.

e-presence / Tools & spaces



All these tools help the e-teachers in the creation of their own e-presence.

This process in turn benefits the other participants, which will be able to create

sMOOCs and establish their e-presence as well.

This snowball strategy produces a multiplier effect that can use the benefits

of heavy prototype investment at the beginning by ensuring some sustainability

over time.

Such a process is part of the ECO model whose reflexivity contributes to the

specificity and originality of European MOOCs in the global MOOCosphere.

Conclusion 1 : ECO model & multiplier effect



After all these levels of presence, reflexivity and transferability,

participatory pedagogy in sMOOCs helps presence at a distance, and

makes it part of e-quality.

As a result, e-quality is being redesigned by MOOCs. There is a qualitative

shift: e-quality itself changes when the three types of presence (cognitive, social

and designed) are brought together to ensure purpose, reflexivity and

sustainability. This points to how the ECO model expands the institutional value

of e-presence.

Conclusion 2 : e-quality optimized and redisigned



e-presence needs to be related to e-quality as a multifaceted “process of co-

production between the learner and the learning-environment” (Ehlers 2004: 2).

e-presence needs to be taken more into account in the design of MOOCS and

also in their quality assurance as it is an empowering process that enables the

learner.

e-presence needs to be ensured all through the learning service, to ascertain

that quality is not just an outcome of the e-learning platform.

e-presence should be used to diminish distance and to bring awareness to

pedagogical and technical design and functionalities.

Conclusion

towards e-presence at distance as a way to reach and share e-quality: the case of the eco smoocs...

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