Implications of the Sharing Economy for Online and Blended Education

The sharing economy phenomenon is disrupting traditional organizations. Sharing concepts coupled with e-Learning can and likely will disrupt higher education. We explore the sharing phenomenon and compare and contrast it with online and blended education. We conclude more effective use of sharing technologies and better course content, innovative instructional technology, and good teaching can help accredited institutions of higher education provide better learning environments as well as stronger degree programs and certifications

Exploring the transformative potential of Bluetooth beacons in higher education

The growing ubiquity of smartphones and tablet devices integrated into personal, social and professional life, facilitated by expansive communication networks globally, has the potential to disrupt higher education. Academics and students are considering the future possibilities of exploiting these tools and utilising networks to consolidate and expand knowledge, enhancing learning gain. Bluetooth beacon technology has been developed by both Apple and Google as a way to situate digital information within physical spaces, and this paper reflects on a beacon intervention in a contemporary art school in higher education conducted by the authors intended to develop a situated community of practice in Art & Design. The paper describes the project, including relevant theoretical foundations and background to the beacon technology, with regards to the potential of using these devices to create a connected learning community by enhancing learning and facilitating knowledge creation in a borderless learning space

The Merchants of MOOCs

A loose network of educators, entrepreneurs, and investors are promoting Massive Open Online Courses as an innovation that will radicaly disrupt higher education. These Merchants of MOOCs see MOOCs\u27 novel features -- star professors, flipped classrooms, economies of scale, unbundling, and openness -- as the key to dramatically improving higher education while reducing its cost. But MOOCs are far from unprecedented. There is very little in them that has not been tried before, from 19th-century correspondence courses to Fathom, Columbia\u27s $25 million dot-com boondoggle. Claims of disruption look rather different when this missing context is restored. This essay examines some common arguments about what gives MOOCs their value, and finds them wanting. There is a sharp division between the features that make MOOCs exciting for education and the features that make them financially appealing to the Merchants of MOOCs

COVID-19 Modifications to a Service-Learning Project Designed to Prepare Special Education Students to Be Effective Participants in Transdisciplinary Collaborations

This research study examined the impact of COVID-19 on university students’ perceptions about the effectiveness of a community-based service-learning project designed to prepare graduate students in special education and undergraduate students in psychology and speech-language pathology to work in transdisciplinary teams in early childhood settings. Students were placed into transdisciplinary teams and assigned to one of two community-based early childhood programs to administer a universal screening tool that assessed young children in several domains. The project was in its sixth year when the country stood still because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was re-envisioned, mid-course, to provide an equitable and rigorous assignment for students who were unable to complete the original assignment due to the lockdown. Student perceptions were compared, pre and post COVID; subsequent results are discussed in alignment with the original four goals of the project. Additionally, suggestions are posed to position this service-learning assignment for remote delivery should the pandemic persist to disrupt higher education

MOOCs, SPOCs, DOCCs and other bugs

Written from the perspective of an individual lecturer at a European university with no particular know-how in e-learning and online educative devices, this paper aims to understand the MOOC phenomenon that, for a couple of years, has hovered over the field of higher education. A tentative answer is given to the question whether MOOCs will disrupt higher education. It is indeed feared in many corners that MOOCs will hurt non-top universities in favour of the Ivy League institutions by replacing average lectures with the stars of the university celestial sphere. This paper argues that, especially in the European context, such a disruption is highly unlikely. More likely is that MOOCs will evolve into one of the many education tools in higher education. The point is, then, how this evolution can be turned into an advantage. It is argued that having a considerable degree of inter-institutional cooperation would be an asset. Until now, most MOOCs have been developed by single institutions, but it would be an asset for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) for European-style MOOCs to be developed by European networks of universities (and eventually other partners). Explicit support for this effort should be offered by the Erasmus+ programme

Postdigital Prospects for Blockchain-Disrupted Higher Education: Beyond the Theater, Memes and Marketing Hype

With DLT’s success in driving the development of cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin), the technology bridged to a myriad of knowledge-based applications, most notably in the areas of commerce, industry and government . In the language of technology sector insiders, these areas were ‘disrupted’ by Blockchain. Some higher education analysts, technology industry insiders and futurists have claimed that Blockchain technology will inevitably disrupt higher education in a similarly dramatic fashion. The aim of this commentary is to introduce a healthy dose of realism into the hype-filled atmosphere of the Blockchain-for-higher-education narrative. A postdigital approach is taken because it treats digital and non-digital technologies as having equal material and cultural standing as candidates to transform higher education

MOOCs and the Silicon Valley Narrative

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have generated considerable media interest, more than other education initiatives such as Open Education Resources (OERs). In this article the author argues that this can be seen as an example of the battle for narrative in open education. MOOCs attracted media interest because they appealed to broader narratives such as "education is broken" and the dominant Silicon Valley narrative. Analysis of the media coverage of MOOCs highlights how they satisfied the core beliefs inherent in these narratives in a way that other educational initiatives have not

Fairer Election

Some 100 students from Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) held a demonstration at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in Bangi last Friday demanding fair campus elections

How to feel “in love” with math – a MOOC experience

In the past few years we have witnessed the fast development of distance learning tools such as Open Educational Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This paper presents the “Mathematics without STRESS” MOOC Project, which is a cooperation between four schools from the Polytechnic Institute of Oporto (IPP). The concepts of MOOC and their quickly growing popularity are presented and complemented by a discussion of some MOOC definitions. The process of the project development is demonstrated by focusing on used MOOC structure, as well as the several types of course materials produced. At last, is presented a short discussion about problems and challenges met throughout the project. It is also our goal to contribute for a change in the way as teaching and learning Mathematics is seen and practiced nowadays.CICE - ISCA