This is a re-post mash up of my comments from a discussion following a round table session sponsored by the Corporate Learning Network along with my responses to a series of questions posed by @Peter Smith, Communications Director at the Corporate Learning Network
Firstly - great discussion by members of the panel (Kevin Currie, executive director of Northeastern Online, Curtis Bonk, professor of education at Indiana University, and Craig Weiss, founder of E-Learning 24/7) -They
covered a lot of territory and presented a broad perspective on the MOOC
phenomena - Thank you.
I had a couple of general comments and one observation from the session.
General Comments
With regards to comments related to low completion rates.
This is not uncommon for online learning in general. When I was teaching online
courses in the 90’s drop-out rates hovered around 70% (I did find ways to flip
this around through purposeful design, but that's another story for another
day)
The very nature of the MOOC design does not demand
completion of prescribed curriculum. This is perhaps one of the strongest
arguments in favour of MOOCs - They
support learning for its’ own sake. Students take courses they are interested
in. They make the choice to engage in areas of a course that are useful to their
specific learning needs - They have the option of auditing the course,
participating in individual activities and assignments or not. – This really
places the student at the centre of the learning process.
Another reason for low completion rates is online learning
requires self discipline and a proficiency with a myriad of technologies beyond
what most people have been exposed to throughout their educational careers.
What would likely increase completion rates would be to have
students who have never experienced online learning, take a pre-course, which
helps them understand how to learn in online environments.
Finally, many MOOCs and online courses assume that people
are comfortable immediately sharing their ideas in a open, public space.
Consequently many of the learning environments lack support for learning and
knowledge work at the individual and small group level. This can serve to
discourage those new to MOOCs from being active participants.
I was a little confused about the comments and discussion related
to MOOCs being predominantly focused on synchronous learning – e.g. The MOOCsoffered through Stanford are a good balance of the two and assignments
typically do not require synchronous participation because of the issue of collaboration
between students across different time zones.
Observation
Panelists seem to still view learning and work as separate
activities. I see one of the biggest advantages of MOOCs is their ability to
embed learning in the context of real, authentic work and meaningful problem
solving designed to produce an outcome.
Questions Posed By Peter Smith
Questions Posed By Peter Smith
1. Are MOOCs here to stay in higher education?
Absolutely! – They will change and improve over time, but
they offer an authentic learning experience like no other
2. Do MOOCs have a future in the corporate sphere?
Again, yes. MOOCs provide a cost effective means for
organizations to support their employees professional learning and development
plans. There will be an increasing need in organizations for on the job, just
in time and as needed training and learning. MOOCs will be especially useful
for large, global matrix organizations (think KPMG, Deloitte etc.) They can be
designed to enhance on-boarding programs, succession planning leadership
development, product training etc.
3. What is the biggest challenge a traditional college or university faces when
implementing a MOOC?
There are a number:
1. Role of the teacher and their ability to teach online
(greater emphasis on being a good teacher, than on publishing research)
2. Maintaining relevancy and currency in the curriculum to
reflect exponential change in the market and in the skills and competencies
required by employers
3. High overheads associated with running brick and mortar
institutions of higher learning
4. The need to do away with the “ivory tower” mindset and enter
into partnerships with business to deliver learning programs which address the learning needs to students
5. The need to integrate learning with work in real time
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