A University of Glasgow guide to MOOCs

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A First Briefing on MOOCs

This memo is addressed to members of our university (and maybe others) who want to know whether they need to know about MOOCs, and what the first things they would need to know are. MOOCS were the academic buzzword of 2012.1 But what is a MOOC. Do we care? Should we? In this short memo we begin with a list of questions, in no particular order, that we have either asked or been asked. The discussion that follows will contain the answers to these, and other, questions, although there may not be a separate section for each question

Improving transition into university life through real and virtual groups

In this talk we will present an overview of the initiatives undertaken within the Student Learning Service in order to ease transition into the numerate disciplines at the University of Glasgow. We will discuss how we make use of social networking tools in order to communicate with students and support virtual PAL type activities. In particular, we will show how we are using Facebook groups as a mechanism for students to support each other both academically and socially and explain how we have introduced pre-entry support and offered advice for new entrants in the College of Science & Engineering using these groups. We will also briefly discuss plans to run maths support labs during summer school for local students during the next academic session and show how we have successfully introduced semi-formal events such as maths-related film afternoons and craft activities

Making connections: engaging student technology teachers with a mathematics module

Over the last three sessions, we have redeveloped a Mathematics module for student Technology teachers to provide an experience that is more relevant to the students’ intended career. The most recent version uses Moodle forums, wikis and the “External Tool” facility, social media, group projects and Mahara. Previously, this was essentially a revision module, intended to ensure that students could cope with the mathematical aspects of the rest of their course. Students were required to complete ten topic tests, and attendance was mandatory only until they had done so, leading to a “race to finish” attitude. Engagement was minimal and the relevance of the module to the remainder of their course was poorly understood. We introduced a “topics wiki” in which groups of students collaborate to provide additional explanations and resources around the course content. The efforts so far are very worthwhile and will be of use to those with less experience of Maths and to future students. Students are encouraged to discuss module content during class time, and in the forums and Facebook group. We are also encouraging students to use the wikis and group projects to build personal e-portfolios using Mahara. In this presentation, we shall set out our reasons for redesigning the existing course, and for selecting the additional activities. We shall report on students’ reaction to this year’s module, present examples of student engagement with the course, and put forward ideas for further development, which could be the basis for discussion

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 – Connected Learning Massive Open Online Collaboration (CLMOOC) – 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 Gee’s concept of an affinity space is an appropriate model for CLMOOC and ask how this might be replicated in a higher education setting

Using Social Media to Promote Deep Learning and Increase Student Engagement

In this paper we discuss an intervention that was introduced at the University of Glasgow in order to address problems of scheduling face to face Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) sessions in the College of Science and Engineering (CoSE). Using Facebook groups, the authors have successfully implemented a Virtual Peer Assisted Learning (VPAL) model. We begin by discussing the background to choosing VPAL as a model and Facebook groups as a method of delivery, and then set out our model in detail. We next present some recent student feedback and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our model. We end by also commenting on the sustainability and transferability of this design

Scoping the future: a model for integrating learning environments

The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has become synonymous with online learning in HE.However, with the rise of Web 2.0 technologies, social networking tools and cloud computing thearchitecture of the current VLEs is increasingly anachronistic. This paper suggests an alternative tothe traditional VLE: one which allows for flexibility and adaptation to the needs of individual teachers,while remaining resilient and providing students with a seamless experience. We present a prototypeof our vision, combining our new development software and a number of existing tried and tested toolsinto a single flexible interface, and built on established pedagogical and technical standards

Key pedagogic thinkers: Dave Cormier

An interview with Dave Cormier, the founder of Rhizomatic learnin

Module facelift: engaging student technology teachers with maths

In recent years a First Year Mathematics module for student Technology teachers has undergone a significant redesign due to a combination of factors. In 2010 a new tutor took over the module and began to add more content to the existing course in order to encourage students to engage with online resources, but a total redesign was not possible due to the limitations of the existing Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) (Moodle 1.9). In 2012, with support from the Learning Technology Unit, this course was restructured on the new Moodle 2.3 site in order that a new tool for quiz authoring and delivery could be embedded within the course. Previous technologies available were limited in various ways; with the arrival of this new tool sophisticated questions can be delivered and activities can be accessed on and off campus. In addition to this, the new version of the course includes tools for social networking and collaborative learnin

Learners on the periphery: lurkers as invisible learners

Lurkers, who are also known as silent learners, observers, browsers, read-only participants, vicarious learners, free-riders, witness learners, or legitimate peripheral participants (our preferred term), tend to be hard to track in a course because of their near invisibility. We decided to address this issue and to examine the perceptions that lurkers have of their behaviour by looking at one specific online learning course: CLMOOC. In order to do this, we used a mixed methods approach and collected our data via social network analysis, online questionnaires, and observations, including definitions from the lurkers of what they thought lurking was. We then analysed the data by using social network and content analyses and interpreted the research findings using the concept Community of Practice, with the Pareto Principle used to delimit types of learner. Our research findings revealed that lurking is a complex behaviour, or set of behaviours, and there isn’t one sole reason why lurkers act the ways that they do in their respective communities. We concluded that for a more participatory community the more active, experienced or visible community members could develop strategies to encourage lurkers to become more active and to make the journey from the periphery to the core of the community