The Open Academy Initiative: Fostering an Innovation Culture with a Local Flavour
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Paper presented at Association for Learning Technology Conference (ALT-C), University of Warwick, 6th September, 2016
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The Open Academy Initiative: Fostering an Innovation Culture with a Local Flavour
- 1. The Open Academy Initiative: Fostering an Innovation Culture with a Local Flavour Mark BROWN, Eamon COSTELLO, Enda DONLON & Mairéad NIC GIOLLA MHICHÍL ALT-C University of Warwick 6th September, 2016
- 2. Outline… 1. MOOC debate 2. MOOC platforms 3. Open Learning Academy Outline…
- 7. Jansen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in Europe Status report based on a mapping survey conducted in October - December 2014. EADTU – HOME project. Available from http://eadtu.eu/documents/Publications/OEenM/Institutional_MOOC_strategies_in_Europe.pdf 1. MOOC debate
- 8. 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% 100.0% US 2013 US 2014 EU 2014 (all) S 2015 (all) S 2015 (Ireland) MOOCs are important for institutions to learn about online pedagogy Agree Neutral Disagree 1. MOOC debate Ireland
- 10. 1. MOOC debate Gartner Hype Cycle MOOCs
- 11. 2015 - 35 million learners 2014 - 18 million learners http://www.onlinecoursereport.com/state-of-the-mooc-2016-a-year-of-massive-landscape-change-for-massive-open-online-courses/ 1. MOOC debate
- 13. - ALISION - EdX - Udemy - Udacity - Iversity - OpenUpEd - Open2Study - OER universitas - FutureLearn - Moodle Options… 2. MOOC platforms
- 14. Jensen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in Europe: Status report based on a mapping survey conducted in October – December 2014. 2. MOOC platforms
- 15. “Resilience requires adaptation and evolution to new environmental conditions, but retains core identity” (Weller & Anderson, 2013, p.55). 2. MOOC platforms
- 16. Strong Pedagogical Community LowBrandAwareness HighBrandAwareness Weak Pedagogical Community 2. MOOC platforms
- 17. Strong Pedagogical Community LowBrandAwareness HighBrandAwareness Weak Pedagogical Community 2. MOOC platforms
- 18. Open to Shaping Closed to Shaping InconsistentDesign ConsistentDesign 2. MOOC platforms
- 19. • How technically fit for purpose is the platform? • How pedagogically fit for purpose is the platform? • How sustainable is the business model for the platform? • How confident are you in the sustainability of the platform? • How reputable are the partners associated with the platform? • How strong is the pedagogical community supporting innovation through the platform? Key questions… 2. MOOC platforms
- 20. Key Questions Future Learn Open 2Study Open UpEd Open EdX Moodle Udemy How technically fit for purpose is the platform? (3 x 3) = 9 (3 x 3) = 9 (0 x 3) = 0 (3 x 3) = 9 (2 x 3) = 6 (1 x 3) = 3 How pedagogically fit for purpose is the platform? (3 x 3) = 9 (3 x 3) = 9 (1 x 3) = 3 (3 x 3) = 9 (3 x 3) = 6 (1 x 3) = 3 How confident are you in the sustainability of the platform? (2 x 2) = 4 (1 x 2) = 2 (1 x 2) = 2 (1 x 2) = 2 (1 x 2) = 4 (1 x 2) = 2 How reputable are the partners associated with the platform? (3 x 3) = 9 (2 x 3) = 6 (2 x 3) = 6 (3 x 3) = 9 (1 x 3) = 3 (0 x 3) = 0 How strong is the pedagogical community supporting innovation through the platform? (3 x 3) = 9 (1 x 3) = 2 (2 x 3) = 6 (2 x 3) = 6 (2 x 3) = 6 (0 x 3) = 0 Total 2. MOOC platforms
- 22. 3. Open Learning Academy
- 23. 3. Open Learning Academy
- 24. http://www.dcu.ie/academy 3. Open Learning Academy
- 25. 3. Open Learning Academy
- 26. Part of Irish State’s National Commemorative Programme 2016 3. Open Learning Academy
- 27. 3. Open Learning Academy
- 28. 3. Open Learning Academy
- 29. 3. Open Learning Academy
- 30. Conclusion • Understand your drivers • Shaping platform development • Part of wider strategic investment In sum…
- 31. Conclusion The Irish Open Learning Academy will be formally launched before the end of 2016…
- 33. “A prudent question is one-half of wisdom” Francis Bacon http://www.slideshare.net/mbrownz mairead.nicgiollamhichil@dcu.ie
Editor's Notes
- This presentation briefly explores the ongoing MOOC debate and then describes a world first MOOC innovation at DCU being led by the NIDL
- More specifically the presentation has three parts. After touching on the MOOC debate we describe how DCU went about thinking about how to respond to the MOOC movement and more particularly our key drivers and how these informed our evaluation of different platforms. Then remainder of the presentation describes the DCU Open Academy and some of the MOOCs we will be offering over the next 12 months.
- There remains considerable debate over the future of MOOCs since this open access book was published in 2013.
- The evolution of the MOOC debate is reflected in this new open access book published in March which contains a chapter by Mark Brown
- Some people argue the MOOC fad or bubble has burst and we are now in the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ in terms of the Gartner Hype Cycle. However, this cycle does not tell the full story and treats all MOOC initiatives as the same. Moreover, it fails to recognise the importance of the context in which MOOCs are used within and beyond institutions.
- The fact is that the number of learners taking MOOCs in 2015 almost doubled the number of people registering in 2014. There is little sign of a reduction of interest in MOOCs by prospective learners. No doubt the MOOC debate will continue to evolve on the next year or so.
- In the case of DCU we spent more than a year thinking about how we should respond to the MOOC movement, including doing nothing as there is an important opportunity cost.
- The key point is that DCU spent this time identifying our drivers and notably our commitment to building a rich innovation ecology in teaching and learning was seen as the major driver for embarking on a MOOC initiative. We saw MOOCs as a means of innovating in different approaches to online learning that we could then bring back to our regular teaching and learning environment.
- Drawing on a clear understanding of our drivers we then evaluated a number of different MOOC platforms using a variety of evaluation tools. This slide shows how we plotted some of the tools according to pedagogical community and their brand awareness.
- By changing the X and Y axis using different criteria the position of the MOOC platforms would often change.
- We also identified a number of guiding questions to help with the selection process and then scored these for each platform.
- In many respects this process was more important than the outcome or scores as it helped to structure and frame our internal conversations.
- We have published more details of how we went about this selection process in the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning if you want further information.
- In the end after considerable deliberation we selected a new MOOC platform known as Academy that will be launched shortly by Moodle HQ. DCU will be the first university in the World to pilot this dedicated MOOC platform which ticked all the boxes for our innovation agenda or driver. Put simply, we did not see much would be gained by simply being a client of an existing major MOOC platform.
- We are currently working on the development of four MOOCs in what will be known as the DCU Open Academy. These are at various stages of development as the Academy platform itself continues to be developed. This slides is just a placeholder for these courses and final course titles may change over the next few months.
- We have deliberately selected our first series of MOOCs to help commemorate 1916
- These slides show some early examples of Irish 101
- Our fourth MOOC is part of another externally funded project which aims to prepare new and prospective flexible learners for further study and student success. There is another paper at the conference describing this initiative.
- In sum, the DCU Open Academy initiative is very much framed around our commitment to fostering an innovation ecology in teaching and learning. In this respect the initiative differs from what other institutions appear to be wanting to achieve by gaining institutional profile through their handful of MOOCs. In keeping with our innovation driver we were attracted by the opportunity to shape the development of the MOOC platform rather than simply be one of many other institutions using someone else’s platform. And in this respect our investment in the DCU Open Academy is part of a wider strategic commitment that DCU has to creating a modern, 21st Century digital campus with a strong learning futures focus.