Math without stress: an open online learning project

MOOC (as an acronym for Massive Open Online Courses) are a quite new model for the delivery of online learning to students. As “Massive” and “Online”, these courses are proposed to be accessible to many more learners than would be possible through conventional teaching. As “Open” they are (frequently) free of charge and participation is not limited by the geographical situation of the learners, creating new learning opportunities in Higher Education Institutions (HEI). In this paper we describe a recently started project “Matemática 100 STRESS” (Math Without STRESS) integrated in the e-IPP project | e-Learning Unit of Porto’s Polytechnic Institute (IPP) which has created its own MOOC platform and launched its first course – Probabilities and Combinatorics – in early June/2014. In this MOOC development were involved several lecturers from four of the seven IPP schools

Design and Development of a MOOC on Information Handling Skills in Teaching, Learning and Research: A Case study

This paper is a case study of designing; creating and implementing a MOOC course on ‘Information Handling Skills in Teaching, Learning and Research’ at the central library, PJTSAU, Hyderabad, India funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research under World Bank funded project on National Agricultural Higher Education Project. The authors explain about the components of planning and designing a MOOC course with detailed information about various issues, procedures, standards, and technical aspects such as hardware and software specifications. This paper also describes the importance of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and their advantages over the traditional teaching methods. It provides exhaustive details about MOOCs, their characteristics, formats, standards, technology involved including the software and hardware for creating and hosting the video lessons over the Internet. The paper also lists out various Government and private agencies involved in creating and offering MOOCs in India. This paper also provides some standard guidelines on how to execute a MOOC programme effectively

A Persona-based Extension for Massive Open Online Courses in Accessible Design

AbstractIn this paper, we present a new participatory design for learning, developed in the context of a transnational initiative for creating Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on Accessible Design for ICT. The core idea is creating an additional learning benefit by means of immersive learning experience. This is achieved by simulating scenarios, in which the participants in the MOOC course are prompted to take on the role of accessible media author, and user, vice versa. The approach is based on the concept of “personas”, a user centered design methodology that illustrates practical needs by portraying realistic personal profiles of hypothetical characters

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

Engaged learning in MOOCs: a study using the UK Engagement Survey

This study sets out to answer the question: how can we know what learning is taking place in MOOCs? From this starting point, the study then looks to identify MOOCs’ potential for future use in HE? Using a specially-adapted version of the HEA’s UK Engagement Survey (UKES) 2014, the research team at the University of Southampton asked participants who had completed one of two MOOCs delivered through the FutureLearn platform and designed and run at the university about their experiences as learners and their engagement with their respective MOOC. The results also show that both of the MOOCs were successful in enabling many participants to feel engaged in intellectual endeavours such as forming new understandings, making connections with previous knowledge and experience, and exploring knowledge actively, creatively and critically. In response to the open access approach – in which no one taking part in a MOOC is required to have a minimum level of previous educational achievement - the report shows that persistent learners engaged, regardless of prior educational attainment

MOOC adaptation and translation to improve equity in participation

There is an urgent need to improve elementary and secondary school classroom practices across India and the scale of this challenge is argued to demand new approaches to teacher professional learning.  Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) represent one such approach and which, in the context of this study, is considered to provide a means by which to transcend traditional training processes and disrupt conventional pedagogic practices. This paper offers a critical review of a large-scale MOOC deployed in English, and then in Hindi, to support targeted sustainable capacity building within an education development initiative (TESS-India) across seven states in India.  The study draws on multiple sources of participant data to identify and examine features which stimulated a buzz around the MOOCs, leading to over 40,000 registrations and a completion rate of approximately 50% for each of the two MOOCs

International good practice in information literacy education

Purpose : A report is given on a survey of international good practices in information literacy education, the first stage of an Erasmus+ project, Information Literacy Online (ILO), which is creating a multi-lingual and multi-cultural MOOC for information literacy instruction. Methodology/approach : The survey was based on a selective identification and analysis of published literature and Internet sources, qualified by expert opinion. Results : The results are summarised in five sections: definitions, models. content, and contexts for information literacy; frameworks and methods for teaching and learning of information literacy; information literacy learning materials; multicultural and multilingual aspects of information literacy education; use of MOOCs for information literacy education. Research limitations : The review is selective rather than comprehensive, and focuses on those issues of most significance for the development of the ILO MOOC. Originality/practical implications : Although the findings are directed to support the development of the ILO MOOC, it is hoped that they may be of more general interest to those involved in information literacy instruction

MOOC and OER: identity management

Open educational resources (OER) and massive open online courses (MOOC) are new and emerging issues in the international higher education context. Under the exponential growth of the supply of courses and related publications, the purpose of this chapter is to foster scientific discussion on the socio-cultural and economic impacts, as well as its technological and pedagogical implications. Supported by the methodological typology of bibliographical studies, systematized interpretative-critical analysis based on review of the concepts, and principles guiding OER and MOOC, the authors' reflections show that the enlargement terminologies without epistemological delimitation have provoked theoretical and practical mistakes. In the final considerations, the authors systematize broader problematizations around the open educational practices in universities aimed to five dimensions: spatio-time-content, theoretical models, principles of pedagogical innovation, economic aspects, and fundamentals of collaborative culture.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Learning from open design: running a learning design MOOC

The OLDS-MOOC (http://olds.ac.uk) for learning design developed a project-based structure with alternative paths through the material. Running the course in the open led to fresh collaboration, demonstration of tools in action and interaction with enthusiastic learners.There were also strains in operating oand lessons to be learnt