Andy Wright leads the development of distance learning and MOOCs at the University of Birmingham. He discusses the evolution of delivering two specific courses online, as well as the phenomenon of eLearning more broadly. Various reasons are provided for moving education online, such as flexibility for working students and scalability. Overall feedback indicates the online courses are well-received by students, though live elements like residential weeks are still important. The document examines approaches to online delivery and concludes that while technology continually changes, the core motivations and goals of education remain the same.

2. Andy Wright
Distance learning developer & MOOC lead
College of Medical & Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham
 Email - a.wright.2@bham.ac.uk
 Twitter -@aw_wright
 Skype - andy.wright54

3.  Evolution of specific courses from campus to online delivery
- MSc Advanced General Dental Practice (AGDP)
- Good Brain, Bad Brain (GBBB) MOOCs
 eLearning phenomenon – revolution vs evolution
- Ed. Tech. Timeline

4.  (P) urpose
- why move online?
 (D) elivery
- how best to move online?
 (F) eedback
- was it worthwhile?

5.  Flexibility – Busy, working people
 Some people prefer independent learning.
 Efficiency – one recording = multiple deliveries.
 Wider net for applicants + scalability

6.  Live Lectures => Online lectures
 Debate => Discussion forums
 BUT: Residential Weeks
(traditional elements)

7. The quality of the lectures in terms of presentation, clarity and
content is excellent. I do enjoy them! The fact that I can do it any
time of the week and day/night is also relevant here. A great aspect
of the forum is that our posts with questions/queries are
automatically available to everyone from MSc team. The feedback
we receive is possibly more comprehensive than if we were limited
to one-to-one contact.

8. I have found the course really interesting so far. It made me do
many things I would have never done otherwise and discovered
new areas that I am interested in.
English is not my first language. However I’ve found all lectures
easy to understand. I honestly think this course is perfect the way it
is, offering students a wide variety of important topics.

9.  Enhance University reputation – brand exposure
 Broaden participation in education
 Possibly attract UG or PG students
 “Big” data for research into online learning

10.  Live Lecture => videos, articles, tests
 Debate => discussion steps
 Academic presence => comments,
emails, video style?

11. 7
Expectations?
(%)
40 53
Exceeded
Met
Fell below
Overall experience?
0.4 0.2
7.1
(%)
39.7 52.5
Excellent
Good
OK
Poor
Very poor

12. So many insights into things that interest me – consciousness,
computers, what makes you satisfied and just how amazing the brain is: it
should be a fundamental part of everyone’s education.
As someone with a severe mental health problem it’s useful to
understand the basics of neurobiology in order to understand stuff I read
about how treatments work.

13.  Positives – flexible, scalable, international, well-liked
 Challenges – community/presence, attitudes, bureaucracy
 NB => total credits, assessment criteria are unchanged.
 Delivery has evolved – motivations, outcomes/goals are the
same:
practical -> qualification, employability, etc
pedagogical -> cognitivism, constructivism, etc

14. Google search definitions:
 Revolution – a sudden, complete or radical change in something
 Evolution - the gradual development of something

15. Online delivery of educational
material = O-Learning??
Is the letter necessary?

16. Language
(Unknown)
Writing
(3200BC)
Paper
(200BC)
Mass printing
(15th century)
Postal
(1840’s)
World
wide
web
(1989)
Social
media
(2004)
Mobile
(2010)
(Dates are approximate)
?

17.  Various reasons/motivations to go online
 Various methods/blends of delivery
 Generally well received – positive feedback

18.  The Internet is just one of many developments in educational delivery
 Educational motivations and outcomes remain fundamentally the same
 Evolution is inevitable – more changes will come!