Ladies and gentlemen, introducing.... the MOOC turtle! This presentation explores five interrelated concepts - Retention, Research, Reputation, Recruitment and Revenue - that might be applied when attempting to judge the success or failure of a MOOC (from the Higher Education Institution perspective). It also touches on broader social and philanthropic goals, and their potential implications.

1. Andy Wright
Distance learning / MOOC lead
College of Medical and Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham
a.wright.2@bham.ac.uk
@aw_wright

2. Me & MOOCs
Course Joiners (approx) Learners
(approx)
Fully participating
Learners
Dental Photography 2000 1000 25%
Good brain, bad brain:
basics
11500 7000 36.9%
Good brain, bad brain:
Parkinson’s
6000 2500 44.8%
Good brain, bad brain:
Drug Origins
6000 2,500 48.1%
Dental Photography
(run 2)
2000 1000 13.8%
Good brain, bad brain:
basics (run 2)
9000 4500 34.3%
Liver disease (open) 3000 N/A N/A

3. The MOOC Turtle

4. RET Retention
RES Research
REP Reputation
REC Recruitment
REV Revenue
What constitutes
success?

5. RET Retention
• More data for research
• More exposure to University teaching
• More exposure to promotional links etc

6. Challenges
RET Retention
- Fostering community
- Faculty presence
- Targets: what is good/bad? 50% per week?
- Low cost = low commitment?

7. RES Research
• Analytics on student behaviours/learning patterns
• Demographic data from surveys
• Improve academic engagement with other online
material / sandpit for experimentation

8. RES Research
Challenges
- No individual learner tracking – cannot
accurately tie learning patterns with
demographics
- Resource implication for data analysis

9. REP Reputation
• Enrolment = Brand awareness, e.g. –
• Educational – exposure to quality of teaching material
• Student experience – includes sense of community, support and
presence
• Strategic presence – e.g. U21, FLAN, etc

10. REP Reputation
Challenges
- Quantification
- Risk –> bad press, word of mouth

11. REC Recruitment
• AS/A-level students for UG courses
• UG students/alumni/65+ for PG courses

12. REC Recruitment
Challenges
- Tracking -> analytics Uni webpages, enrolment
questionnaire
- How much is enough? Break even or profit?
- Pitching of academic level
- Collaborate with schools for UG? (also an opportunity)

13. REV Revenue
• Direct fee?
• Certificates / exams
• Amazon sales
---------------------------
• ACADEMIC: Pre-requisite for paid-for course (e.g. CPD)
• MARKETING: Taster for paid-for course

14. REV Revenue
Challenges
- Administrative resource
- Uni Approval / Accreditation processes
- Reputational impact if too money orientated??

15. The MOOC turtle
REP REC REV
RES RET

16. How much turtle is enough?

17. The “social butterfly”
Philanthropy
Social Policy

18. Social Policy
• Healthcare - E.g. GBBB: Alzheimer’s / Managing
challenging behaviour
– EU dementia policy
• EMMA – inclusion/participation
• MOOC success measured as contributory factor
towards overall, wider policy outcomes
• Charity collaboration – e.g. CLDF, Parkinson's, etc.

19. Philanthropy
• Factpacking – indulge people’s natural interest
• Broaden participation in education (must try harder!)
• Social/cultural/ethnic cohesion – tolerance, sensitivity,
understanding, awareness
• Charity collaboration – e.g. CLDF, Parkinson's, etc.

20. Thanks for listening!