Reflections on a research study about the MOOC: Teaching with Moodle 2013 (532) Home : Annual Conference 2014

Reflections on a research study about the MOOC: Teaching with Moodle 2013 (532)

Public Group Active 7 years, 8 months ago

Mon, Sep 1 2014, 4:40pm – 5:40pm

Description

Given the paradox of large enrolments with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) across the globe (Norton et al., 2013) and the evident high drop-out rates (Clow, 2013), the inference is a need for a shared understanding about pedagogy and outcomes with regard to such large courses. It therefore follows, if MOOCs continue to contribute to the changing landscape of education then research about the purpose of MOOCs appears necessary. Drawing on constructivist methodology, this presentation will consider a recent research project, which focused on a MOOC that involved over 9,000 enrolled participants, during 2013, framed by the research question: What pedagogy and learning opportunities manifest during the Teaching with Moodle MOOC? A relationship between the evolution of pedagogies for distance learning and technological development in view of a variety of learning theories exists in the literature, and the central message is a need for online pedagogies to be fit for purpose (Anderson & Dron 2011). There remains little research and development surrounding teaching and learning on an open network. Indeed, there is a lack of research specifically in relation to how theory informs large online courses for best practice. However, Kop’s research (2011) revealed certain challenges to the theory of connectivist learning (Downes, 2007, Siemens, 2005) for the provision of a quality learning experience. That research suggests MOOCs require adaptation to the learning environment involving skills to aid learner autonomy, an ability to manage own presence/engagement and ‘a certain level of creativity and innovative thinking in addition to competency in ICT applications’ (Kop, 2011). Ergo an identifiable requirement for MOOCs is a shared understanding between all those who choose to engage; an applied pedagogy that can accommodate social and personal contexts during the learning experience, ‘a place where dialogue happens’ (Kop, 2011). The philosophical referents that underpin the pedagogical approaches, afforded by Moodle, and the specific features within the findings of the Teaching with Moodle MOOC research will be shared during this presentation, namely a dialogical pedagogy and associated opportunities for learning.

This standard presentation will be of interest to practitioners, researchers and policy-makers.

References

Anderson, T. & Dron, J. (2011). Three Generations of Distance Education Pedagogy. The international review of research in open and distance learning, 12 (3).http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/890/1663 [viewed January, 2014].

Clow, D. (2013). MOOCs and the funnel of participation. LAK ’13 Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge. pp.185-189. New York: ACM.

Downes, S. (2007). An introduction to connective knowledge. Paper presented at the International Conference on Media, knowledge & education, exploring new spaces, relations and dynamics in digital media ecologies. http://www.downes.ca/post/33034. [viewed January 2014].

Kop, R. (2011). The Challenges to Connectivist Learning on Open Online Networks: Learning Experiences during a Massive Open Online Course. The international review of research in open and distance learning, 12 (3) http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/882 [viewed January 2014].

Norton, A., Sonnemann, J. McGannon, C. (2013). The online evolution: when technology meets tradition in higher education, Grattan Institute.http://grattan.edu.au/static/files/assets/ed9a3429/186_online_higher_education.pdf [viewed October 2013].

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: Learning as network-creation. ElearnSpace. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/networks.htm. [viewed January 2014].