1) The document proposes creating a "MOOCAgora", a virtual marketplace where educational institutions, industries, and governments can collaborate to develop "qualification-focused MOOCs (qMOOCs)" to address skills gaps in Europe. 2) It recommends that qMOOCs incorporate problem-based learning, communities of practice, and 3D virtual environments to promote deep and experiential learning. 3) The MOOCAgora would accelerate the production of high-quality, employment-focused MOOCs through a crowd-sourced model of open innovation and multi-partner development.

1. Towards a Crowd-sourced Open
Education Strategy for Employment
in Europe with Qualification-
focused MOOCs
Stylianos Mystakidis & Eleni Berki
HOME conference, Mapping the European MOOC Territory, 27/11/14, Porto

2. Stylianos Mystakidis
MSc, PMP, Phd cand.
• Learning Manager & Innovator @ Center for
Vocational Training, University of Patras (Greece)
• Adjunct Faculty @ University of the West of England
(UK) & Open University of Catalonia (Spain)
• Teaching Mentor @ University of Washington (USA)
• Research Interests: E-learning, Open Education, 3d
Virtual Worlds, Gamification, Problem-Based
Learning, Digital Storytelling

3. 4 Axes of Systemic Analysis
1. Strategy / Policy Aims (why?)
2. Organization (who?)
3. Business Model (€€€)
4. Pedagogy / Instructional Design (how?)
Disclaimer: alpha version! (PhD study)

4. Fast-track version
1 Strategy/Policy Aim
3 Challenges
2 Organization/Business
Recommendations
3 Pedagogy Recommendations

5. Fast-track version
We can produce more, faster and better MOOCs
to address skill gaps in Europe by multi-partner
alliances in a (new) crowd-sourced virtual
Marketplace for MOOCs (MOOCAgora) for the
development of Quality- and Qualification-
focused MOOCs (qMOOCs) that feature
deep learning through Problem-Based Learning
and 3d Virtual Immersive Environments

6. MOOCs Game of the Learning Thrones
MooCS
Higher Education

7. Inspiration
• 1st (GR) informal Big
Open Online Course
(BOOC)
• Blended (sync & async)
• 3d VIEs (Second Life)
• 2011-2013
• 220 participants

8. Seal of Good Teaching Practice
#mathisi20

9. University of Washington Maya Island, Best Educational
Practice in Virtual Worlds Award, VWBPE 2012

10. I.
The Challenges

11. Winter is coming
#got

12. MOOCs
are
coming
In Higher Education…

13. Europe & MOOCs (?)

15. Policy Recommendation
“Address the e-skills shortage challenge amidst
of record-high European youth unemployment
through open education for flexible mass scale
upskilling”
Digital Agenda Assembly 2012 (Jobs & Skills)

16. Three Challenges for Mass Open
Education for Employment
1. Design and offer more MOOCs in more EU
countries [more2 MOOCs]
2. Create new models to accelerate MOOC
production to address e-skills needs, and
finally [faster MOOCs]
3. Facilitate the design of different and/or
better MOOCs especially focused for
webskills [better MOOCs]

17. Change?

18. more2
MOOCs

19. Faster MOOCs

20. II.
MOOCAgora

21. MOOCAgora 1/2
• Virtual platform where governments,
industries, professional associations,
educational institutions and certification
providers meet to address skill gaps through
open education
• Mechanism for offer and demand of MOOCs
for employment (a.k.a. ‘MOOC Store’)
• Based on Open Innovation and online
Communities of Practice (CoPs)

22. MOOCAgora 2/2
• Open Education Ideagora
• Crowd-founded ecosystem
• Multiple partners
• Open biding
• Demand- and Offer-driven
• Qualification-focused
• Accountability

23. 8-stage MOOC for Employment
Business Circle

24. 8 Stages
1. Job Market Monitoring
2. Skills Shortage Identification
3. Set Qualification Aims (linked with stage 7)
4. Action Decision
5. qMOOC Design
6. qMOOC Provision
7. Qualifications Certification
8. Job Market Impact

25. Partner Roles
1. Coordinator
2. Instructional Designer
3. Technology Provider
4. Content Provider
5. Problems Provider
6. Certification Provider

26. qMOOCs
• New form of MOOCs
• q stands for Qualification and Quality
• Empirical construction of specific
qualifications and skills, achieving visible and
verifiable learning outcomes
• Flexible multi-partner MOOC development
• Graduates: employable qualified, manifold
thinkers

27. better MOOCs

28. III.
MOOC Pedagogy
Recommendations

30. 1. Deep Learning
• Development of conditionalized knowledge
and metacognition through Communities of
Practice
• Manifold Thinking Skills (creative, critical,
caring and reflective)

31. 2. Problem-Based Learning (PBL/PFE)
i. Begins with a problem
ii. Presents the problem as a real-life situation
iii. Supports students ́manifold thinking and
working in a group
iv. Encourages students to identify their own
learning needs and take responsibility of their
own learning processes
v. Encourages assessment and evaluation of the
learning process and its learning outcomes

32. Mozilla Webliteracy framework

33. 3. 3d VIEs & MOOCs
• Formal and informal learning experiences
• Identity and avatar psychology
• Enhanced, immediate synchronous e-learning
interactions
• Experiential and social learning
• Virtual teamwork
• Formation of virtual learning communities
• Effective behavior-changing learning experiences

34. Synopsis
We can produce more, faster and better MOOCs
to address skill gaps in Europe by multi-partner
alliances in a (new) crowd-sourced virtual
Marketplace for MOOCs (MOOCAgora) for the
development of Quality- and Qualification-
focused MOOCs (qMOOCs) that feature deep
learning through Problem-Based Learning and
3d Virtual Immersive Environments

35. Education in the Digital Era
• High Level Conference Brussels, Dec. 11th 2014
• 3 Themes
– Increasing the Quality of Learning
– Increasing the Impact of Educators (!)
– Addressing Inequalities through Access
• Opportunity to accelerate Innovation!
• Join the preconference online dialog
#EdDigEra in Social Media!

36. Stylianos Mystakidis
Learning Innovator
linkedin.com/in/stylianosm
@stylianosm2
mystakidis@upatras.gr