Repurposing MOOC Content

Jeffery Young shares Robert Lue's idea of repurposing old MOOC content into new courses. Lue's has a clear vision for LabXchange: "LabXchange addresses this issue [inadequate student access to experiential science] with a platform that integrates dynamic experimental simulations with background curriculum and social networking—all created to more effectively expose students of varying backgrounds to the authentic and engaging experience of scientific discovery." LabXchange is seeking collaborators/partners before launching later this year (2019).

-DD

P2PU in Libraries

Grif Peterson discusses the obstacles for public libraries attempting to offer peer to peer university courses , and proposes open education resources that will meet the needs of adult learners.

-DD

MOOCs for Collaboration

Daniel Seaton writes about using MOOCs as a collaboration tool. Seaton is an adminstrator of Harvard's collaborative collection of classroom resources, the DART project.

-DD

MOOC Design

Alice Bonasio shares the latest trends in MOOC development.

-DD

Online Education of Adults

Simon Nelson discusses the international online education market in an interview with Jeffrey Young. Nelson worked for fifteen years with the BBC, and feels that worldwide there is an untapped demand for quality curriculum if one considers adult education.

-DD

MOOC Enrollment Grows in 2015

Dhawal Shah provides statistics on MOOC the marketshares and reported enrollments. He reports that "free" courses are being replaced by those with a paywall - at least if the course will include student evaluation.

-DD

Peer Pressure and Course Completion

Amy Ahearn notes that +Acumen has improved course completion

by creating beneficial peer pressure for completion. +Acumen recommends these techniques:

1. Form a team that can meet in person;
2. Recruit three people for your team;
3. Enroll people you already know, and,
4. Use supplemental technology for collaboration.

-DD

Cheating in MOOCs

Andy Thomason summarizes recent research done by Harvard and MIT on online cheating. Thomson says the study recommends using randomized questions in online tests to minimize cheating by individual students.

-DD

MOOCs for Techies

Jake Widman shares an updated list of free MOOCs for techies which are being offered by universities across the United States. This is an addendum to an earlier list of tech MOOCs.

-DD

MOOC Adoption By Universities

Reeve Hamilton reports on the slow adoption of MOOCs by universities, despite efforts by groups like the Texas legislature to fund initial course offerings. My concern is that student course completion rate for a typical MOOC varies from 1% to 15% according to the linked New York Times article.

If the goal is simply to make content available, MOOCs (and TED.COM) do this; to ensure people are listening to the presentations, some measurement of learning attainment needs to be integral to the program evaluation.

-DD

Evaluations of MOOCs

Eleni Zazani has abstracted the contents of several reports on MOOCs on her blog.

-DD

Open Education Resources

CETIS publications in the UK is hosting commentaries on the topic of Open Education Resources (OER).

-DD

Tech Courses in a MOOC Environment

Fred O'Connor gives links to upcoming free courses on tech topics .

-DD

MOOCs and Teamwork

Amy Choi explores Harvard University's plan to add student teams to MOOC learning in the hope of bolstering engagement and completion statistics.

-DD

What MOOCs Teach

Andrew Miller shares Four Lessons From the Failure of MOOCs. He makes these points:

1. Retain the Human Element
2. Foster Focused Collaboration
3. Provide Ongoing Feedback
4. Blended Is Best

-DD

Students In Free MOOCs Are Not Committed to Reading the Course Material

Fred O'Connor reports "Most People Who Signed Up for MOOCs Offered by MIT and Harvard Never Looked Over Half of the Course Material."
-DD
 
 

Credit-for-MOOCs Effort Hits a Snag

Steve Kolowich reports that prospective students seem to have little interest in credit for MOOC participation .

-DD

Does Ikea Hold The Secret To The Future Of College?

I find that Fast Company is a good source for learning the social impact of business & technology trends. In the most recent issue of the magazine, reporter Anya Kamenetz considers the potential benefit if MOOCs take off.

-DD