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Some Issues Affecting the Sustainability of Open Learning Courses
James Aczel, Simon Cross, Doug Clow, Patrick McAndrew UK Open University
Pascale HardyUniversity of Liverpool / Laureate
Andreas MeisznerUNU-MERIT
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Research focusRecent developments in open learning:• open educational resources (OER)• Web 2.0• courses free and open to all (e.g. P2PU)• 3rd party services
(e.g. tutoring, assessment or certification)• open participatory learning
But are such developments sustainable?
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Earlier initiatives• MIT OpenCourseWare• Jorum and other UK initiatives• UNESCO• OpenLearn, OLnet & other Hewlett Foundation initiatives• SocialLearnDavid Wiley:
“I don't know whether in future the people who answer questions, provide content and provide the degree will be in the same institution”
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Theoretical backgroundFramework developed by Meiszner (2010) and others• OER constitute just one element of Open Education• OER should be embedded within an overall Open
Educational Service concept • Services characterised by:
– large degree of independence (by-and-large) from existing physical educational infrastructures
– self-organised community-based learning processes– community-based production of learning materials– flexible learning and teaching roles
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Theoretical background (continued)Aspects of the framework:• Anyone interested in the subject can participate
(“inviting in”).• The outputs of such participation are shared
(“sending out”).– artefacts created by learners are retained– learning processes and activities are captured– artefacts and captured learning are embedded within the
course in a way that enables others to re-experience them later
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openED 2.0 Project• “Exploring participatory learning in open educational
environments”• Nov 2009 – July 2012• Funded with support from the EU Lifelong Learning
Programme, the Swiss Government & UNU-MERIT
Disclaimer: This presentation reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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Project team
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The openED initiative7 European organisations have collaboratively generated a
course, open in certain ways:• OER-based, building on open materials (e.g. OpenLearn)• Web 2.0 refinement of learning materials & course design
(CC BY-SA)• anyone can study, at any time, for free• open to 3rd party service providers
(e.g. for tutoring, assessment or certification)• open participatory learning processes
http://www.open-ed.eu
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Research questions• How do materials, services and communities associated
with such open initiatives develop over time?• What learning takes place?• What issues arise associated with cross-cultural and
multilingual settings?• How does this compare with formal education?• How does this compare with informal learning?• What are the factors affecting the speed, effectiveness and
sustainability of such initiatives?
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Initial curriculum• “Business and Management Competencies in a Web 2.0
World”• 10 modules, each lasting 10-30 hours• Two strands: academic & professional• Currently in 2nd presentation
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Business and Management Competencies in a Web 2.0 World
1: Tools for collaboration in a Web 2.0 world2: Searching for information in business & management 3: Project management4: Developing personal skills in communication5A1: What is the question?5A2: Quantitative & qualitative analysis tools5P1: Enterprise & managerial functions5P2: Project management advanced5P3: Change management6: The ethical organisation
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ServicesEducational providers around the world are invited to offer
extra services to course participants. For example:• private virtual tuition• face-to-face teaching of classes• assignment marking• certification
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Research methods• website logging• observation of forum interactions & chat sessions• surveys• semi-structured interviews• learning diaries• learning design analysis
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Data capture strategy
W e b s i t ev i s i t s i n c .
I S P
4 0 0 0 +
L e a r n i n g R e f l e c t i o n
F o r m
2 0
W e b s i t eo b s e r v a t i o ni n c . f o r u m s
1 0 0 + t h r e a d s
I R C c h a ts e s s i o n
l o g s
1 0 + h o u r s
I n t e r v i e w sw i t h
a u t h o r s
-
P a r t i c i p a n ts u r v e y
-
D a t a f r o mm o d u l e
t u t o r s
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P a r t i c i p a n ti n t e r v i e w s( p a r t n e r s )
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B r i e f a u t h o r s u r v e y
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P a r t i c i p a n ti n t e r v i e w s
( O U )
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R e w r i t ep r o c e s s
o b s e r v a t i o n
L e a r n i n gd e s i g n
a n a l y s i s
-
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Multi-national student survey
National StudentSurvey(UK)
University StudentSurvey
(Greece)
ResearchQuestionnaire(Solem et al. 2003)
(US)
Open UniversityEnd of CourseSurvey (UK)
openEDsurvey
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OverviewRegistrations: 490Forum posts: 755Forum treads: 231Modules: 10Facilitators: 7Activities uploaded: 111
Last monthUnique visitors: 1,673Page impressions: 32,581
Page impressions
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Unique visitors this month
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
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2000
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
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Origin of all visitors who viewed two or more pages (each IP address considered a different 'visitor) between 20 October
and 20 December 2011 (n=)
Europe: Greece
Europe: Portugal
Europe: UK
Europe: Switzerland
Europe: Other
Africa: Tanzania
Africa: Senegal
Africa: South Africa
Africa: Other
Russia, Asia & Australia
North America
South America
1. Variability in website use
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Origin of total page views by traceable registered users who visited/logged in to the course web site between 20 October
and 20 December 2011 (n=150)
Europe: Greece
Europe: Portugal
Europe: UK
Europe: Switzerland
Europe: Other
Africa: Tanzania
Africa: Senegal
Africa: South Africa
Africa: Other
Russia, Asia & Australia
North America
South America
1. Variability in website use
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2. Contrasting experiencesOnline interaction in groups: benefits • 'that I can search myself about information for each module
and that I can discuss about the result with other learners and compare with their research' (16 Nov); 'I enjoyed the consultations with the other group for activity 3 and 4 (Module 1,2 and 3)’
• 'work[ing] in groups because it's a great way to share and improve ideas, and we still have time to share some cultural differences' 'working in groups through the internet is being also a great experience for me, and working well I believe'
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2. Contrasting experiencesOnline interaction in groups: barriers• ‘The only problem that I face currently is group organising.
I spend many hours by sending meeting requests to other group members with no response’
• 'We [tried] (with my team members) to execute Activity 4 [Module 3] but it is not so easy. The main problem is that it is not easy to prepare a Gantt Chart and the Critical Path Analysis with team members which are xxx km far away. We need to spend much more time if we want to execute the activity [to a] high quality.'
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3. Challenges to sustaining study
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4. Valuing tutor supports• 'There isn't [anything] that I didn't enjoy; it is just that
sometime[s] I don't understand some things such as deadlines, and I get anxious without reason. But these are all just a matter of inexperience’ [learning reflection form]
• ‘I would like [it] to be easier to communicate with a tutor in person if something comes up’ [student survey]
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5. Reuse by students• Who is viewing?• When are resources being viewed?• Is this reuse?
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6. Design process tensions• Desire for convergence in structure and retaining individual
author/tutor style• Greater responsibility for content and need for greater
critical evaluation of others contributions• Module author focus on participant learning activity at
expense of tutor/facilitator activity and communication of teaching intent
• Absent infrastructures and unknown audiences
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7. Learning design analysis
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Next steps• More research needed into the development trajectories of
materials, participants’ work & community.• Third round Oct 2011 – Jan 2012• Interest in amalgamated international satisfaction survey.• Psychological complexity of open processes.• How to inspire learners & teachers to build (or even just
comment) on the work of others? QA?• What revenue & funding models might allow the course to
be sustainable beyond the project’s funded duration?
http://www.open-ed.eu
Simon [email protected]
