224 research outputs found
Massive Open Online Courses as affinity spaces for connected learning: Exploring effective learning interactions in one massive online community
This paper describes a participatory online culture â Connected Learning Massive Open Online Collaboration (CLMOOC) â and asks how its ethos of reciprocity and creative playfulness occurs. By analysing Twitter interactions over a four-week period, we conclude that this is due to the supportive nature of participants, who describe themselves as belonging to, or connected with, the community. We suggest that Geeâs concept of an affinity space is an appropriate model for CLMOOC and ask how this might be replicated in a higher education setting
A Framework for Interaction and Cognitive Engagement in Connectivist Learning Contexts
Interaction has always been highly valued in education, especially in distance education (Moore, 1989; Anderson, 2003; Chen, 2004a; Woo & Reeves, 2007; Wang, 2013; Conrad, in press). It has been associated with motivation (Mahle, 2011; Wen-chi, et al., 2011), persistence (Tello, 2007; Joo, Lim, & Kim, 2011), deep learning (Offir, et al., 2008) and other components of effective learning. With the development of interactive technologies, and related connectivism learning theories (Siemens, 2005a; Downes, 2005), interaction theory has expanded to include interactions not only with human actors, but also with machines and digital artifacts. This paper explores the characteristics and principles of connectivist learning in an increasingly open and connected age. A theory building methodology is used to create a new theoretical model which we hope can be used by researchers and practitioners to examine and support multiple types of effective educational interactions. Inspired by the hierarchical model for instructional interaction (HMII) (Chen, 2004b) in distance learning, a framework for interaction and cognitive engagement in connectivist learning contexts has been constructed. Based on cognitive engagement theories, the interaction of connectivist learning is divided into four levels: operation interaction, wayfinding interaction, sensemaking interaction, and innovation interaction. Connectivist learning is thus a networking and recursive process of these four levels of interaction
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Addressing Injustices through MOOCs: A study among peri-urban, marginalised, South African youth
The legacies of colonial rule continue to impact everyday life, particularly in education. These structural inequalities are often reinforced and amplified in online âglobalâ education through a form of digital neocolonialism, which is where hegemonic powers indirectly control or influence marginalised groups through the internet or information technology. In striving for justice-oriented online education models, this study analyses to what extent Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), produced both internationally and locally, support (or could support) the needs, preferences, and aspirations of marginalised South African youth and address the material, cultural-epistemic, political, and geopolitical injustices they face.
To evaluate what South African peri-urban youth desire in their education and futures, as well as the challenges they experience, a seven-part survey was conducted with 250 youth from five townships in South Africa. Responses showed that whilst participants strongly value and aspire to further their education, financial difficulties, infrastructural barriers, family problems, and lack of emotional support and life mentorship limit them from achieving this. Participants reflected on how colonial and apartheid legacies have affected their educational experiences and identities through inferior quality of education, forced languages, forgotten histories and incongruent values, cultural norms and practices.
In parallel, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 MOOC designers, from South Africa and the USA, to investigate the ways in which efforts, if any, were being made to reach students most in need of quality education. Interviews covered themes of openness, accessibility, and justice. It was found that, depending on the MOOC designerâs understanding of social justice and decolonial thought, they placed varying emphasis on addressing different forms of injustice. Some focused on resource, access and infrastructural barriers, while others focused on issues of content relevance and knowledge production. Furthermore, MOOC designersâ attempts to address injustices strongly related to their own identities and lived experiences, highlighting the importance of plurality of thought and epistemic diversity in the producers of MOOCs.
Drawing on the historical injustices and lived experiences of the youth, and the attempts to address injustices by the MOOC designers, it was ascertained that there is no one size-fits-all formula to creating equitable MOOCs. Rather, depending on the purpose and target audience of the MOOC, nuanced approaches to addressing injustices are suggested. These approaches are shaped by various leverage points that influence the types of, and the extent to which, participatory methods, accessibility measures, knowledge sources, assessment and critical pedagogy are implemented. Additionally, the importance of these leverage points varies over the MOOCâs lifecycle, from inception and design, to implementation and assessment. Bearing in mind the broad-ranging injustices that youth participants raised, these approaches are presented with great caution that educational technologies and open education are not panaceas but if designed and used appropriately and justly, can be tools for liberation
A New Ecology for Learning : An Online Ethnographic Study of Learnersâ Participation and Experience in Connectivist MOOCs
This dissertation focuses on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which have emerged and heralded as new online learning environments able to serve large numbers of students. Identifying two main types of MOOCs known as connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs) and instructivist MOOCs (xMOOCs), emphasis is placed on the learning ecology of connectivist MOOCs and how the format, with all of its attention on learner-centered pedagogy and social media invite collaboration and networking. The thesis provides detailed analysis and description of learnersâ experiences and perceptions of participation and their use of online tools and resources in the process of learning and networking. CMOOCs promote the ideals of re-structuring the spaces of learning from classrooms to open networked ecologies that enable learners to have greater control over their learning experiences, content, and use of technologies.
The study builds on the theoretical foundations of networked learning and connectivism that undergird the affordances of technology in promoting connectedness among learners, resources, networks and communities. The investigations into personalized learning and ecological learning design shed light on the significant role of learners and acknowledge their autonomy in creating their learning environments. The study employed and developed âonline ethnographyâ to gain a better understanding of the dynamics of learning in cMOOCs from the perspectives of learners themselves. Data were gathered from several MOOCs over a five-year period through participant observation, interviews, open-ended questions, surveys, and online artifacts.
The findings demonstrate that cMOOCs are learner-centered ecologies in which learners participate in the flow and generation of knowledge by creating and sharing content through networked technologies such as blogs, wikis, Twitter, and Facebook. Developing a personal learning environment (PLE) in cMOOCs enhances learner autonomy and creates a space for them to aggregate, remix, repurpose content, reflect, and share their learning experiences. Additionally, the results indicate that participation in cMOOCs requires learners to assume active roles in a spirit of openness in forming their learning experiences and networking activities; to develop digital competence to manage the abundance of resources.
Theoretical understandings and empirical evidence of the sub-studies helped delineate cMOOCs as an open networked learning ecology that positions a learner at the intersection of personalized and networked situations to foster processes of self-directed learning and connectedness in open online contexts. The study contributes to the knowledge and pedagogy of open networked learning and provides insights to help universities, course designers, MOOC providers, instructors, and participants improve online learning experiences.TÀmÀ vÀitöstutkimus kÀsittelee merkittÀviksi uudenlaisiksi verkko-oppimisen ympÀristöiksi muodostuneita massiivisia avoimia verkkokursseja (massive open online courses, MOOCs). MOOC-ympÀristöjen kaksi pÀÀtyyppiÀ ovat vuorovaikusta ja yhteydenpitoa painottavat kurssit (connectivist MOOCs, eli cMOOCs) ja opetusta painottavat kurssit (instructivist MOOCs eli xMOOCs). Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan, kuinka osallistujat hahmottavat ja jÀsentÀvÀt cMOOCs-kurssien oppimisen ekologian. Tutki-mus tarjoaa yksityiskohtaisen analyysin ja kuvauksen oppijoiden osallistumisen kokemuksista ja havainnoista sekÀ heidÀn online-työkalujen ja resurssien kÀytöstÀ toimiessaan cMOOCs:ympÀristössÀ. SiirtÀmÀllÀ oppimisen luokkahuoneista avoimiin verkostoituneisiin ekologioihin cMOOC-kurssit pyrkivÀt muuttamaan oppimisen tiloja mahdollistaen oppijoille suuremman vastuun oman oppimiskokemuksensa muodostumiseen. Ne tarjoavat myös oppijoille mahdollisuuden ottaa kÀyttöön laajan valikoiman teknologioita joiden avulla he valitsevat, luovat, jakavat sisÀltöÀ sekÀ tuottavat materiaalia tiedon virtaan.
Tutkimuksen teoreettinen perusta on verkottuneessa oppimisessa sekÀ konnektivismissa, jotka korostavat teknologian kÀyttömahdollisuuksia oppijoiden, resurssien, verkostojen ja yhteisöjen vÀlisen vuorovaikutuksen rakentamisessa. KeskeisiÀ ovat esimerkiksi henkilökohtaisen oppimisen (personalized learning) sekÀ ekologisen oppimisen (ecological learning) suunnittelu, jotka painottavat oppijoiden keskeistÀ roolia sekÀ tunnustavat heidÀn autonomiansa omien oppimisympÀristöjensÀ luojina. Tutkimuksessa kÀytettiin ja samalla kehitettiin online-etnografiaa pragmaattisena tutkimusmetodina, jonka avulla voidaan paremmin ymmÀrtÀÀ oppimisen dynamiikkaa cMOOC-oppimisympÀristöissÀ. Aineistoa kerÀttiin useilta verkkokursseilta osallistuvan havainnoinnin, haastattelujen, strukturoitujen ja avoimia kysymyksiÀ sisÀltÀvien kyselylomakkeiden sekÀ online-tuotosten avulla reilun viiden vuoden aikana.
Tulokset osoittavat, ettÀ cMOOC-kurssit ovat oppijakeskeisiÀ ekologioita, joissa oppijat osallistuvat tiedon tuottamisen ketjuun luomalla ja jakamalla sisÀltöÀ verkottuneiden teknologioiden, kuten blogien, wiki-alustojen, Twitterin ja Facebookin avulla. Henkilökohtaisen oppimisympÀristön (personal learning environment, PLE) kehittÀminen cMOOC-kursseilla mahdollistaa oppijan autonomian sekÀ luo heille tilan, jossa voi koota, yhdistellÀ, uudelleen jÀrjestellÀ ja suunnata sisÀltöÀ sekÀ reflektoida ja jakaa omia oppimiskokemuksia. LisÀksi tulokset osoittavat, ettÀ cMOOC oppimisympÀristöihin osallistuminen edellyttÀÀ oppijoilta aktiivisen roolin omaksumista ja avoimuutta heidÀn oppimiskokemustensa ja verkostoitumista koskevien toimintojensa muodostamisessa. cMOOCs oppimisympÀristöt edellyttÀvÀt oppijoilta myös digitaalisten kompetenssien kehittÀmistÀ, joilla tarjolla olevien resurssien runsautta on mahdollista hallita.
Tutkimuksen tuottama teoreettinen ja empiirinen ymmÀrrys massiivisista avoimista verkkokursseista mahdollistaa viitekehyksen luomisen avoimen verkostoituneen oppimisen ekologialle (open networked learning ecology) joka asettaa oppijan henkilökohtaisten ja verkottuneiden tilanteiden risteyskohtaan sekÀ edistÀÀ itseohjautuvan oppimisen ja yhteyksien luomisen pro-sesseja avoimissa online-konteksteissa. Tutkimuksen tulokset hyödyttÀvÀt avoimia verkottunutta oppimista koskevaa tietoa ja pedagogiikkaa sekÀ tarjoavat nÀkökulmia, jotka auttavat, MOOC-ympÀristöjen tarjoajia, opettajia ja osallistujia kehittÀmÀÀn online-oppimisen kokemuksia
Remix as Professional Learning: EducatorsĂąâŹâą Iterative Literacy Practice in CLMOOC
The Connected Learning Massive Open Online Collaboration (CLMOOC) is an online professional development experience designed as an openly networked, production-centered, participatory learning collaboration for educators. Addressing the paucity of research that investigates learning processes in MOOC experiences, this paper examines the situated literacy practices that emerged as educators in CLMOOC composed, collaborated, and distributed multimediated artifacts. Using a collaborative, interactive visual mapping tool as participant-researchers, we analyzed relationships between publically available artifacts and posts generated in one week through a transliteracies framework. Culled data included posts on Twitter (n = 678), a Google+ Community (n = 105), a Facebook Group (n = 19), a blog feed (n = 5), and a ĂąâŹĆmakeĂąâŹïżœ repository (n = 21). Remix was found to be a primary form of interaction and mediator of learning. Participants not only iterated on each othersĂąâŹâą artifacts, but on social processes and shared practices as well. Our analysis illuminated four distinct remix mobilities and relational tendenciesĂąâŹâbursting, drifting, leveraging, and turning. Bursting and drifting characterize the paces and proximities of remixing while leveraging and turning are activities more obviously disruptive of social processes and power hierarchies. These mobilities and tendencies revealed remix as an emergent, iterative, collaborative, critical practice with transformative possibilities for openly networked web-mediated professional learning.ECU Open Access Publishing Support Fun
ECO D2.6 Web 2.0 requirements analysis
ECO sMOOCs are social and seamless and the pedagogical design puts the learner central, taking an active role and learning through interactions and connections with others. The platforms have to provide the features not only support social interaction but promote and enhance these. This deliverable puts forward what features can scaffold interactions, taking into account lessons learned from popular social media.Part of the work carried out has been funded with support from the European Commission, under the ICT Policy Support Programme, as part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) in the ECO project under grant agreement n° 21127
MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses available to anyone who can sign up. MOOCs provide an affordable and flexible way to learn new skills, advance in careers, and provide quality educational experiences to a certain extent. Millions of people around the world use MOOCs for learning and their reasons are various, including career development, career change, college preparation, supplementary learning, lifelong learning, corporate e-Learning and training, and so on
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion â A MOOC for Academic Purposes
Since its fifth framework programme (1998â2002), the European Union has promoted gender equality and equal opportunities in the higher education sector and science and technological development. In its current framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe (2021â2027), the EU requires scientists to systematically integrate the concepts of sex, gender and intersectionality into their research paths and to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in their working environments. However, for historical reasons, following the EU requirements is challenging, particularly for scientists in STEM disciplines. The University of Genoa is planning a MOOC suited to a large research institution audience to address this problem. The MOOCâs targets are researchers, scholars, administrative personnel and students interested in advancing EDI practices in the scientific fields. It enables them to understand the basic principles underlying the gender mainstreaming adopted by the EU and integrate methods and strategies related to sex, gender and intersectionality to progress towards an EDI-sensitive institution. Supported by a learner-centred instructional strategy, this chapter explores the choices related to EDI-sensitive methods and strategies adopted to develop and implement an online education path. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed
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