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

Access for all: Using mobile and open education to secure success in underserved settings

The TESS-India project (Teacher Education through School Support in India), led by the Open University UK, funded by UK Aid and in partnership with the Indian Government, addresses the urgent need to improve the quantity and quality of teacher education in India. Movement in teachers’ classroom practice towards a more learner centred participatory pedagogy is recognised as being critical to improving students’ learning in schools across the country. In realising this aim over 1000 open educational resources (OER), accompanied by 55 supporting videos, have been collaboratively produced and localised across seven states and in six languages. A blended approach has been taken to the dissemination of the TESS-India OER throughout teacher education institutions and communities. With the Indian mobile market ranking as the second largest in the world, providing easy access through personally-owned mobile devices has been critical. In addition to the web and fixed media, TESS-India has worked closely with State governments to develop a mobile specific application that runs both on and offline through the internet and via low powered wifi enabled devices (Raspberry Pi). This has provided multiple access points in educationally underserved rural communities and areas with limited or no connectivity. Beyond access to the materials, a variety of strategies have been engaged to support the integration of the OER and the participatory pedagogy they exemplify into teacher education practices. This includes a collaborative, multi-lingual production process, facilitated MOOC and locally developed WhatsApp communities driving uptake and adoption. This presentation will discuss: • the practical applications of developing and using a mobile based delivery system; • the extended benefits of developing access routes specific for mobile based users in both on and offline scenarios; • the characteristics of TESS-India OER and the collaborative design and production process; • the top-down and bottom-up approaches to OER dissemination and integration into education practic

Impact of Argument Type and Concerns in Argumentation with a Chatbot

Conversational agents, also known as chatbots, are versatile tools that have the potential of being used in dialogical argumentation. They could possibly be deployed in tasks such as persuasion for behaviour change (e.g. persuading people to eat more fruit, to take regular exercise, etc.) However, to achieve this, there is a need to develop methods for acquiring appropriate arguments and counterargument that reflect both sides of the discussion. For instance, to persuade someone to do regular exercise, the chatbot needs to know counterarguments that the user might have for not doing exercise. To address this need, we present methods for acquiring arguments and counterarguments, and importantly, meta-level information that can be useful for deciding when arguments can be used during an argumentation dialogue. We evaluate these methods in studies with participants and show how harnessing these methods in a chatbot can make it more persuasive

Extending the MOOC footprint: supporting capacity building in India

Higher education institutions across the world have enthusiastically embraced the MOOC phenomena for multiple motives; to advance the reach of their social justice missions; to promote their accredited provision; to experiment with new modes and styles of teaching, and so on. Our ambition in using a MOOC was very different; we drew on the affordances of an established MOOC platform, Open EdX, to extend the reach and impact of a large scale open programme (TESS-India) focussed on improvements in teaching and learning in seven states in India (www.tess-india.edu.in). TESS-India aims for pedagogic transformation for teachers working in elementary and lower secondary schools through participation in the practices of the TESS-India OER. Within the design of TESS-India the MOOC was intended to play a critical role in supporting the capacity building of teacher educators to close the policy –practice gap and support engagement of teachers with the OER. This paper describes how we addressed the broader programme demands in the design and delivery of the TESS-India MOOC to attract over 10,000 registered participants and a completion rate of 51%. We draw on multiple sources of participant data to identify and examine features which stimulated a buzz around the MOOC and supported success in challenging contexts - many participants had little or no prior experience of online learning and a large number were based in rural areas without reliable internet access or power. Our analysis identifies features which contributed to successful participation; a focus on authentic activities in the learning design and assessment, appropriate use of technology, a three-way blended support model combining formal and informal interactions and the use of a pilot iteration of the MOOC to create local experts and champions who were then able to act as skilled facilitators in the large scale iteration of the MOOC

Providing Comprehensive Educational Opportunity to Low-Income Students. Part 4: What Are the Social and Economic Returns?

Approximately half of all New York City public school students who live in families with incomes less than 185% of the federal poverty level (FPL) do not graduate from high school. These dropouts are much less likely to achieve economic self-sufficiency in adulthood. This creates both a fiscal and social burden. Rothstein, Wilder and Allgood (2011) propose a set of publicly funded comprehensive services to supplement academic services that could effectively raise the educational attainment levels of low income children to levels associated with middle class children. This report, the fourth in a five part feries, calculates the fiscal and social impact of raising the attainment levels of these students in order to assess whether the costs of such services are justified by the benefits. Specifically, the report estimates the economic costs and benefits attributable to a single cohort of 37,000 12th grade students from families with incomes below 185% FPL who are currently finishing up in New York City public schools. It calculates the net fiscal contributions by education level per individual. These contributions are tax revenues, minus government expenditures on healthcare, the criminal justice system, welfare programs, and school/college. The report finds that New York City and State combined spend $82,000 (in lifetime present value terms) on each high school dropout on healthcare, criminal justice, welfare, and education while receiving only$45,000 in tax revenues. This results in a deficit of $37,000 for each dropout. In contrast, for students earning a BA or higher degree, the city and state expenditures amount to$55,000 while tax revenues are $143,000, resulting in a balance of$88,000 in favor of the government. The impact for the federal government is also substantial with high school dropouts costing $1,360 when federal expenditures are netted against federal tax revenues, while students earning a BA or higher degree contribute$347,460 in lifetime present value terms. Evidently dropouts create a greater fiscal burden for the state and city than for the federal government, but the federal government gains dramatically more as education levels increase. The economic analysis provided in this report indicates that provision of all support programs in the comprehensive approach outlined by Rothstein, Wilder, and Allgood (2011) would require a significant outlay by state and local governments above and beyond what is currently expended. However, the resulting estimated 9% rate of return on investment compares favorably with existing forms of government debt, suggesting that a feasible strategy would be to finance the costs of a comprehensive support program for low-income children through the issuance of long-term municipal bonds. Philanthropic foundations could also help fund these social investments by providing grants to service providers that would be replaced by public funds if target outcomes were met

Who uses drug checking services? Assessing uptake and outcomes at English festivals in 2018

Purpose This study aims to assess service user characteristics, uptake and outcomes for drug checking services offered to over 250,000 English festival-goers in summer 2018 and to compare findings with earlier years, wider festival-goers and the general population. Design/methodology/approach A total of 2,672 substances of concern were submitted by the public and tested by chemists in mobile laboratories on 24 show days at seven festivals. Results were embedded in 2,043 individually tailored brief interventions (BI) delivered by health professionals to 4,240 service users. Comparative data were collected through anonymous self-report surveys with 1,291 respondents at five of the same festivals. Findings Three percent of drug-using festival-goers received BI, 95% of whom had not previously accessed health services regarding their alcohol or other drug use. Drug checking service users were significantly more likely to be younger, male and past month polydrug users with a wider range of drugs consumed in the last month compared with the general festival population. For samples matching purchase intent, nearly half intended to reduce dosage, with younger and female service users significantly more likely to reduce dosage. For substances identified as other than expected, nearly two thirds disposed of them. Social implications Festivals are potential sites to deliver innovative health interventions and to monitor their outcomes, reduce the risk of poisoning and overdose, and facilitate access to follow-up support services. Originality/value This study suggests that there is value in event-based services that provide risk reduction communications directly to young adults engaged in higher risk drug use compared with wider event and general populations. </jats:sec

Single- and double-scattering production of four muons in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

We discuss production of two $\mu^+\mu^-$ pairs in ultraperipheral ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at the LHC. We take into account electromagnetic (two-photon) double-scattering production and for a first time direct $\gamma\gamma$ production of four muons in one scattering. We study the unexplored process $\gamma \gamma \to \mu^+\mu^-\mu^+\mu^-$. We present predictions for total and differential cross sections. Measurable nuclear cross sections are obtained and corresponding differential distributions and counting rates are presented.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, 1 tabl

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Early Reading Programs: A Demonstration With Recommendations for Future Research

We review the value of cost-effectiveness analysis for evaluation and decision making with respect to educational programs and discuss its application to early reading interventions. We describe the conditions for a rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis and illustrate the challenges of applying the method in practice, providing examples of programs for which we have estimated costs, but find effectiveness data lacking in comparability. We provide a demonstration of how cost-effectiveness analysis can be applied to two early reading programs: the Wilson Reading System and Corrective Reading. We use existing effectiveness data from an experimental evaluation in which the programs were implemented under similar conditions and the use of common outcomes measures for both programs yielded data that are comparable. We combine these data with cost data we collected using the ingredients method to calculate cost-effectiveness ratios for the alphabetics domain. A complete picture of the relative cost-effectiveness of each program could be provided if effectiveness metrics were available for fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. We highlight the obstacles to applying cost-effectiveness analysis more frequently and recommend strategies for improving the availability of the requisite data

Developing New Indicators To Describe Digital Technology Infrastructure In Primary And Secondary Education

Provides sets of metrics for describing digital technology provision in primary and secondary education (schools and beyond) based on analysis of the literature and testing against a range of vignettes representing a wide range of settings in 'developing world' contexts