The use, role and reception of open badges as a method for formative and summative reward in two Massive Open Online Courses

Open online learning courses such as cMOOCs and xMOOCs differ from conventional courses yet it remains uncertain how, and if, existing common yet costly practices associated with teacher-driven formative and summative assessment strategies can be made to work in this new context. For courses that carry no charge for registration or participation, authors of open online courses have to consider alternative approaches to engaging, motivating and sustaining study and for helping participants manage, plan and demonstrate their own learning. One such approach is that of open badges or similar such visual public symbols that communicate to others a particular quality, achievement or affiliation possessed by the owner. This paper reports the role, reception and use of open badges in two ‘massive’ open online courses delivered in 2013 with attention to varied functions of badges and the a distinction between formative and summative applications. The paper will then draw upon data from end of course surveys, which specifically asked about badges, pre-course surveys, and user comments made during the course on platforms such as Twitter to examine what value participants ascribed to the open badges. Although there was found to be a broadly positive response to badges in both MOOCs, the reasons for this were often very different, and approximately a quarter of respondents remained sceptical or concerned about their role. The paper concludes by reflecting on the open badge as a formative instrument for providing the learner with an indication of progress and achievement

Exploring Self-Regulated Language Learning with MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been integrated into face-to-face language modules to enhance the educational experience of students. MOOCs appear to offer language learning opportunities as well as challenging the self-regulated learning (SRL) behaviour of students. This paper presents a work in progress with regards to the literature review of my PhD, which investigates SRL in face-to-face language modules using MOOCs. It discusses SRL as a requirement for engaging with these courses and analyses the way studies have integrated MOOCs into instructional language modules. This paper concludes by highlighting the need for understanding students’ SRL behaviour when engaging with MOOCs as part of their language modules

Challenges while MOOCifying a HE eLearning course on Universal Accessibility

There are some similarities in developing a traditional Higher Education (HE) eLearning course and MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), due to the use of the basis of eLearning instructional design. But in MOOCs, students should be continually influenced by information, social interactions and experiences forcing the faculty to come up with new approaches and ideas to develop a really engaging course. In this paper, the process of MOOCifying an online course on Universal Accessibility is detailed. The needed quality model is based upon the one used for all online degree programs at our university and on a variable metric specially designed for UNED MOOC courses making possible to control how each course was structured, what kind of resources were used and how activities, interaction and assessment were included. The learning activities were completely adapted, along with the content itself and the on-line assessment. For this purpose, the Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Product Grid has been selected

Revolutionizing Legal Education: Embracing Technology to Equip Students for Success in the Digital Age

The legal profession is changing as law schools embrace technology to prepare students for 21st-century concerns. This study covered legal education's technological initiatives, including online training, blended learning, adaptive learning materials, and online mentorship programs. This study aims to provide a detailed review of legal education's technological innovations and their effects on the legal profession. We examined online education, including synchronous and asynchronous distance learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which provide students flexibility and convenience. Blended learning lets law professors use educational videos and other internet resources to make learning more engaging and effective. Technology is revolutionizing legal education and preparing students for the digital age. Law schools may prepare students for a future where technology will be increasingly crucial by adopting new tools and instructional approaches. The study stressed the necessity for forward-thinking legal education and keeping up with legal business technology

Educating at scale for sustainable development and social enterprise growth: the impact of online learning and a massive open online course (MOOC)

The solutions to the grand challenges of sustainability, poverty, and health affecting the world will require education and capacity building for all individuals implementing change on a global scale. The challenge ahead is to reach those missed by traditional education and support networks. Online Learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to build knowledge and share best practice experiences among individuals worldwide. This paper examines the case of the FutureLearn Social Enterprise Program, a series of MOOCs with over 50,000 registered learners, of which 15% become active learners, engaging in online exercises, debates, and conversations. This paper draws on quantitative and qualitative data collected over four years. The findings show that the course has not only had an impact on the creation of new startup social enterprises, but it has also supported a large proportion of learners in developing sustainability and social entrepreneurial ideas within a range of organisations in the public, private, and civil society sectors. The findings also show a positive cascading impact effect from the learners registered on the course to those in their network, as ideas are shared, and learners become mentors to others. Our conclusions demonstrate how digital education and online courses contribute to global education for sustainable development and social enterprise development

Deadlines and MOOCs : How Do Students Behave in MOOCs with and without Deadlines

Full research paper-Online education can be delivered in many ways. For example, some MOOCs let students to proceed with their own pace, while others rely on strict schedules. Although the variety of how MOOCs can be organized is generally well understood, less is known about how the different ways of organizing MOOCs affect retention. In this work, we compare self-paced and fixed-schedule MOOCs in terms of retention and work-load. Using data from over 8.000 students participating in two versions of a massive open online course in programming, we observe that drop-out rates at the beginning of the courses are greater than towards the end of the courses, with self-paced MOOC being more extreme in this respect. Mostly because of different starts, the fixed-schedule course has a better overall retention rate (45%) than its self-paced counterpart (13%). We hypothesize that students initial investment of time and effort contributes to their persistence in their course, meaning that they do not want to let their initial investment go to waste. At the same time, in both self-paced and fixed-schedule MOOCs, there are students who receive almost full points from one week but fail to continue to the next week. This suggests that the issue of dropouts in MOOCs may also be related to participants struggling to take up new tasks or schedule their work over a longer time period. Our results support scheduling student activities in open online courses and opens up new research directions in engaging students in self-paced courses.Peer reviewe

Learning through Design: MOOC Development as a Method for Exploring Teaching Methods

Exploring new pedagogical approaches and technologies in learning experiences such as MOOCs offers educators a clear opportunity to reflect on and expand their teaching methods and document effective practices. However, while research has affirmed the value of self-reflection as an important means to improve one’s pedagogical practices, very limited data about self-reflection during course design exists for online instructors in higher education. A team of MOOC course designers thus seized the opportunity to investigate whether they could improve their teaching practices by engaging in a connectivist and reflective process to create an innovative MOOC. The MOOC design team for Educational Technology and Media Massive Open Online Course (ETMOOC) created a virtual laboratory for reflecting on the pedagogical approaches and technologies they were considering. The underlying question they sought to answer was whether their experiences with the connectivist design process would impact their own self-reflective teaching practice. The design team encouraged exploration of various pedagogical models, leveraged the web to create connected learning experiences, networked learning, and reflected on the design throughout the development of the course. For the author, designing, developing, and teaching a MOOC created trigger moments for improving teaching. The author provides a list of suggested practices for reflecting on teaching and improving course design for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in particular