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 ‘Why is the MOOC environment better than our VLE?’ and other Open Educational challenges and benefits to current HE practice

From OERs to MOOCs:HEA CLL Event 31 March 2014Terese BirdLearning Technologist andSCORE Research FellowInstitute of Learning Innovation

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What will we talk about?

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• Who is Open Education for?

• The disappointment of MOOCs

• How MOOCs benefit current

students

• How can we encourage benefits?

• Benefits of open educational practice

MOOC platforms are attractive because:

• Simple 

•Mobile-friendly

• No Turnitin 

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Image by James Cridland

Who is open education for?100 million adults can’t afford university (UNESCO)

The disappointment of MOOCs

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The disappointment of MOOCs

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• Privileged, educated

• Recruitment

Who studied the FutureLearn RIII MOOC?N=2285 or 22% of enrollees

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• 69% Females over 45 years old

• UK 76%

• USA 9%

• Australia 2%

• Canada 2%

Who studied the FutureLearn RIII MOOC?

• 52% already studied the topic or working in the topic (history, archaeology)

• 35% had studied an online course previously

• Of the above, 50% uni course for credit, 32% other MOOCs

Learner participation in RIII MOOC• 74% visited the course a few times a week or

more

• 83% spent at least 30 minutes on the course each visit

• Average of 8 comments total in discussion

• 30% thought it was a bit or much too easy

Learner completion in RIII MOOC

In the final week:

• 42% unique visitors visited that week’s materials

• 28% marked an activity as complete

• 5-10% average completion rate for MOOCs internationally

How MOOCs benefit current students:MOOC platforms are attractive because:• Simple 

•Mobile-friendly

• No Turnitin 

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“Why can’t we use the MOOC platform instead of our regular VLE for actual teaching?”

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Why are we so willing to spend this money on potential students but not on enrolled students?

– LeicesterUni app gets more attention than Bbd Mobile

– iTunes U for outsiders but no iTunes for students– False advertising with ‘taster’ MOOCs

Do MOOCs benefit students? Evaluation of FutureLearn MOOC• Why did students sign up for MOOC?

– To try out new things 85%– To try FutureLearn or a MOOC 53%– To try out learning online 46%

• Did the course meet your expectations?– Yes, met my expectations 49%– Exceeded my expectations 42%

From our evaluation:MOOCs benefit students and the institution• By giving students a

chance to try online learning for the first time

• By allowing students to consider online learning as an option in their own studies

Open Education practices benefit students:

• MOOCs can benefit currently enrolled students: Northampton– University of Northampton Skills MOOC to benefit current

and prospective students– Skills/A-Level-Type MOOC planned at University of

Leicester – recruitment plus current students– University of Nottingham

• By making online learning more acceptable

• By showcasing innovations we actually achieve with online learning

Open Education practices benefit students:• By making good learning materials more accessible (don’t

have to go to library)

• Good materials can go on mobile devices for offline viewing– iPad app for Security, Conflict, and International

Development Masters – needs CC-licensed material– One-iPad-per-Medical-Student

Open Education practices benefit students:• Students can do more with open access materials

– English/Linguistics assignment needed open-access articles or CC learning materials

– Museum Studies students creating exhibits wanted CC-licensed material

Photo by Terese Bird CC-BY

How can we encourage more benefits?

New OER Advice for Instructors

Copyright advice encourages CC use

• Flickr CC search

• Google CC search

• University of Leicester Copyright for Academic Instructors – some taken from London South Bank University, reused, repurposed, made available CC: http://www2.le.ac.uk/library/downloads/copyright/UoL_Library_Copyright_For_Academic_Modules_Booklet_Mar_2011_v2.01.pdf