How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?

Design of educational interventions is typically carried out following a design cycle involving phases of investigation, conceptualization, prototyping, implementation, execution and evaluation. This cycle can be applied at different levels of granularity e.g. learning activity, module, course or programme. In this paper we consider an aspect of learner behavior that can be critical to the success of many MOOCs i.e. their persistence to study, and the related theme of learner retention. We reflect on the impact that consideration of these can have on design decisions at different stages in the design cycle with the aim of en-hancing MOOC design in relation to learner persistence and retention, with particular attention to the European context

What are the key sucess factors of MOOC platforms?

This thesis analyzes key characteristics of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platforms in order to assess what makes such platforms successful. Three challenges of MOOC platforms were determined from the review of the literature: dropout rates, sustainability and plagiarism. Primary data was gathered from a sample of MOOC platforms, both on the characteristics of the platforms themselves and their internet traffic data. We performed a statistical correlation analysis using Traffic Rank as indicator of platform success, and key characteristics of the platforms. Statistically significant correlations with platform success were found with: platform focus on college education, offering certification, charging fees for courses, enabling online testing, among others. The key characteristics of success identified through our analysis should help platforms overcome the three challenges. Other statistically significant correlations found, such as the importance of the number of partnerships with universities also helped to identify a key strategy that platforms might follow, flipped classrooms, where content from the MOOCs is used by the universities in the physical courses

Step by Step Guide to Implementing LMS with Live Teaching : Case study: eVarsity(dot)Net

Nearly 100 percent of Finnish educational institutes offer some form of online studies from high school level to higher institutes. These platforms are given fancy names such as Wil-ma by Eira High School or Tuubi by Metropolia. Some institutes move further to offer full courses online called Virtual Open University where prospective students can accumulate credits online to prepare them towards a degree or diploma course. Degree students are also able to enroll with permission to gain some extra credits online. Using already existing LMSs students are able to access static resources in the form of recorded videos, audios or PDF files pre-uploaded as course contents to the sites. Students are able to communicate with the lecturers via chats, emails or messaging through the online Learning Management System (LMS). However, collaboration does not happen in real time therefore more students are likely to get bored along the way and drop out of the course entirely if they feel a teacher delays in responding to their questions or the course is too abstract to them and they cannot seem to get the explanation from reading the materi-als. The goal of this project is to produce a near experience to the conventional style of teach-ing by bringing live web conferencing together with LMS. Two separate LMS and a web conferencing servers shall be installed. The web conferencing server shall be integrated into the LMS. Students shall be able to watch and hear a live lecture by a lecturer who can navigate presentation files, write on a whiteboard for all the students to see in real time. Everything happens in a web browser and it is completely cloud-based. Nothing to down-load on install on the client PCs of the teacher or students

An Indian Based MOOC: An Overview

A massive open online course (MOOC) is a model for delivering learning content online to a large number of people. These are online courses with unrestricted numbers of participation and open accessibility. MOOC gained popularity during the early 2010s and have been presented as an alternative to the traditional instructional model, focused on the lecturing instructor and relying on digital content that is available to all students. The present study attempt to introduce all the MOOC available in India, compare them using Similarweb pro, explain why country like India needs MOOC, its challenges and provide few points to address for proper success of MOOC

Open Educational Practices in Australia

This case study presents the extent of transformation that Open Educational Practices (OEP) have brought to higher education in Australia. In the early stages of the transformation, open access policies, funding, support and infrastructure were introduced by the national government. Initiatives that uncovered the transformative potential of OEP were then undertaken. The scope of transformation of OEP in Australia has since expanded, influencing and impacting institutions in several aspects, leading the sector to a better position worldwide. However, many challenges still remain. Restrictive copyright regimes and a lack of national and institutional policies and funding are among the barriers faced by OEP in Australia. If these barriers are removed and policy enablers are further developed, the higher education sector in Australia could fully benefit from the transformative potential of OEP

The implementation of Blockchain framework in MOOCs to support a freedom of learning in Indonesia

A freedom of learning program has been released by the Indonesian Ministry and Culture this year 2020. There are three ways for students to earn their credits, namely take the subject course in face-to-face based class, virtual based class or under Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs is a model that is developed to help people to learn about certain skills through the online platform, without any limitation in the audience. MOOCs aim to enhance broad collaboration between individuals in creating learning environments that have high scalability and can be accessed by anyone and anywhere. The complexity arises when students undertake a subject course through MOOCs, how to certify the completion of their program in which the certification can be gained easily, and the last how secure the obtained certificate? Blockchain technology can help to improve the quality of MOOCs by providing control of academic records as evidence that someone has completed a learning process on MOOCs. Academic records generated will be stored in one place forever and safely stored in the Blockchain environment. This article will explore how the possible to implement the Blockchain framework in MOOCs to support a freedom of learning in Indonesia. © 2021 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Just in Time: The Beyond-the-Hype Potential of E-Learning

Based on a year of conversations with more than 100 leading thinkers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs, this report explores the state of e-learning and the potential it offers across all sectors of our economy -- far beyond the confines of formal education. Whether you're a leader, worker in the trenches, or just a curious learner, imagine being able to access exactly what you need, when you need it, in a format that's quick and easy to digest and apply. Much of this is now possible and within the next decade, just-in-time learning will likely become pervasive.This report aims to inspire you to consider how e-learning could change the way you, your staff, and the people you serve transfer knowledge and adapt over time