Neil Mosley of Cardiff University examined some of the challenges universities face in online education, with a focus on what to change, think and do differently. Neil’s three key suggestions for universities to consider for the next academic year were: - Invest and invest wisely in people and technology - Seriously consider forming partnerships - Don’t delay!

1. Online
education
A challenge to universities to change,
think and do things differently
Neil Mosley
Digital Learning Designer
@neilmosley5

2. “You have to know the past to
understand the present”
Carl Sagan

3. A notable last
decade..

4. MOOCs brought online learning
to the masses…
“MOOCs started the last decade as a proof of
concept and finished with 380 million students
taking over 30 thousand courses and 50 degrees
from over 1000 Universities globally.”
Holon IQ
www.holoniq.com/notes/the-mooc-decade.-380-million-students-later./

5. ...MOOC hype led universities to invest...
PARTNERSHIPS
Over 40 UK
universities partner
with MOOC
platforms
INVESTMENT
Universities paying
6 figures sums over
the last 6-8 years
PEOPLE
Recruitment of
dedicated teams
and/or people to
support this activity

6. ..some made
strategic
moves into
online
education

7. ...and some are
growing online
education through
partnerships with
online programme
managers (OPMs)

8. MOOC
platforms
OPMs In-house
..a mixture of ways
in which online
education has
grown in UK
universities..

9. ...but online education
is still largely an
adjunct to core
educational activity of
universities.

10. ● APPETITE
Limited internal appetite for online
education and growth mainly driven by
players outside of universities.
● PEOPLE
Limited professional support and very few
learning designers.
● TECHNOLOGY
Does existing edtech support active,
engaging online learning? Is it accessible
and available on a range of devices?
● READINESS
Teaching staff largely not ready or
experienced in online, blended or flexible
learning.
General picture of online education in UK HE

11. Emergency remote teaching

12. Emergency remote teaching
Supporting students at a distance
Student and staff wellbeing
Global distributed campus
Staff readiness to teach online
Assessment re-design and re-thinking
Support for remote teaching stretched
Usability and robustness of technology
Student accessibility & inclusivity

13. “If the next academic year begins on an online basis,
platforms will need to be better quality than the
temporary – and sometimes brilliant – adaptations now
being put in place.
The crisis will accelerate the development of online
education not as it has mostly been up to now – as an
adjunct to traditional classes, or a pale imitation of
face-to-face education at the same price – but as a
distinctive form or product in higher education”
Simon Marginson, Director of the Centre for Global Higher Education,
University of Oxford.

14. Faced with
uncertainties and
challenges for 20/21...
1. Invest and invest wisely if you can,
in people and where necessary
technology
2. Seriously consider partnerships
3. Don’t delay!

15. Learning design is
critical to online
learning
Didactic > Active
Synchronous > Asynchronous
Communication
Collaboration
Community
Feedback & reflection
Activities
Authentic assessments

16. HOLISTIC APPROACH
Work closely and
collaboratively with
academics throughout the
lifecycle of designing
courses/modules for
digital/online delivery.
SKILLS GAP
A dearth of digital learning
designers in universities.
*Different to Learning Technologists
who tend to offer more discrete
technology enhanced learning
support.
REMOTE WORKING
Many work remotely
already and the current
climate enables access to a
greater pool of these
professionals.
Invest in learning designers...

17. Does your education
technology really support
active & flexible online
learning?
How well does it support active,
asynchronous learning?
How usable is our technology?
How well does our technology
support accessibility?
Does it work across a range of
devices especially mobile?

18. OPMs & MOOC providers
May be an opportunity to partner in the rapid upscaling of online provision.
...or do they have training programmes & resources you can use for staff development.
Other universities
Can other universities help - there’s many synergies in what we teach - sharing and
licencing of materials?
...or do they have training programmes & resources you can use for staff development.
Seriously consider partnerships...

19. This is unlikely to be a wasted
investment.
Global demand for education
Collapsing work and learning
boundaries
Digital transformation and
modernisation
Agility and financial resilience
Move towards more flexible, active
approaches

20. Any questions
Neil Mosley
Digital Learning Designer
MosleyN@cardiff.ac.uk
@neilmosley5

21. Q&A
Liz Thomas, Education Consultant
Q: Which platforms would you recommend?
A: It rather depends a lot on the context - I would recommend considering the kind of teaching required and
then assessing different platforms. Microsoft Teams could be a good option for you, it would depend on
getting a full picture of documenting what you teach and what you want to achieve online.
Barry Spencer, London South East Colleges
Q: We’ve made use of the community of enquiry model as part of course delivery through our VLE &
agree entirely, importance of learning design, content & assessment have to hang together. Students
preferred this method of delivery over the classroom model. The number of posts and chat room
activity were extraordinary - looking forward to experimenting with this more at London South East
Colleges.
A: Great to hear! Some people are surprised when online education works well. Academics working on
MOOCs for the first time are often amazed at the richness of the discourse, the questions raised and
engagement. My own experience is that online programmes often experience higher levels of student
satisfaction than on campus.