Making use of MOOCs Janet Small, Andrew Deacon, & Sukaina Walji Centre for Innovation in Learning & Teaching, University of Cape Town. UCT 2015/6 Teaching & Learning Conference workshop University of Cape Town 30 March 2016

1. MAKING USE OF MOOCS
Janet Small, Andrew Deacon, & Sukaina Walji
Centre for Innovation in Learning & Teaching, University of Cape
Town
UCT 2015/6 Teaching & Learning Conference workshop
University of Cape Town
30 March 2016

2. OVERVIEW
o Introduction
• Situating MOOCs
• Landscape of course provision
• Categories of MOOCs
• Uses of MOOCs in supporting student learning
o Workshop
• How others are making use of MOOCs
• Case studies: bridging, wrapping, flipping &
partnering

3. MOOCS OCCUPY “IN BETWEEN”
SPACES
An “in-between” space for engaging large numbers of
people through social interactions
Educational
books,
television
MOOCs
Traditional
formal
courses
Expect high
engagement, but
small numbers
reached
Lower engagement;
different measures of
engagement (sales, views,
attendees), with large
numbers reached

4. conventional flexible
FORMAL
SEMI-FORMAL
NON-FORMAL
Lectures
& tutorials
Short courses
Summer school
Professional development
Online coursesBlended courses
Landscape of course provision

5. PUTTING MOOCS IN THEIR PLACE
o Where MOOCs fit into the course provision landscape
and thus how they can enhance what is already being
done
o How MOOCs differ from formal online courses and thus
what additional support infrastructure is needed

6. Online course DIFFERENCE MOOC
Fees Cost to user No fees for enrollment; maybe
certificates &/or support
Yes, as per all formal courses with
pre-requisites
Entrance
requirements
None, open enrollment, no prior
requisites
Limited. Capped by resources
available for support &
assessment
Scale
Hundreds and thousands
No expectation of educator
involvement with students
Responsible for curriculum
alignment, QA, support
Educator role Flexible role re curriculum
Limited/no individual support
Distance education providers (but
changing) Providers
Traditional residential research
universities partnered with private
companies, although changing.
No, not usually Analytics Yes, one of the promises
Conventional Certification Non conventional and emergent
Aligned with the usual formal
courses QA processes
Quality assurance As per non formal offerings

7. THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MOOCS
The particular affordances of
MOOCs shaping learning
environments comprise two
aspects:
o scale in terms of numbers
of students
o diversity in terms of the
types of students
o flexibility of access and
availability
Massiveness “not only something
unprecedented in education, but
also something of significant value to
continued work in an educational
domain that is becoming increasingly
global in its capacity and reach”
(Knox, 2014)
“digital, participatory literacies could
be an unintended consequence of
the combination of massiveness and
openness” (Stewart, 2013)

8. MOOC IMPLEMENTERS: UNIVERSITY PARTNERS
1 1
1
UCT - Coursera
and FutureLearn
Wits – edX
Stellenbosch – F/L

9. Sept 2014 screenshot

10. March 2016 screenshot
More MOOCs from
more institutions

11. GOALS OF UCT’S MOOC PROJECT
o To showcase the teaching and research excellence of UCT
o To give exposure to African content and knowledge
o To profile key postgraduate programmes and research areas
aligned with the university’s strategic goals
o To support students in academic transitions
o To make UCT’s knowledge resources globally accessible
o To develop models and expertise in online/blended learning
that could be deployed in mainstream degree programmes
Our focus – how to
make use of MOOCs
produced at UCT and
elsewhere

12. Understanding types helps determine use and re-
use
TYPES OF MOOCS

13. Showcase teaching and
introduce topics with high-
profile ‘rockstar’
presenters
Introduce fields and
support students in
undergraduate study
Develop skills and
introduce topics for
postgraduate study.
Showcase research and
special interest topics
of interest to
postgraduate level
Showcase professional careers
for continuing education and
qualifications

14. CATEGORY 1 TEACHING SHOWCASE
General interest high
profile course
Showcases the
institution by means of
an engaging subject or
personality led.
Global interest and
matches a popular
understanding of high
profile MOOCs
High production costs | high enrollment | loose curriculum ties
May attract external funding

15. CATEGORY 2 GATEWAY SKILLS
Provides foundational, bridging or
enhancement skills for pre HE entry
or during undergraduate pathways
towards specialisation.
Could replace teaching for
'bottleneck courses.’
Local interest, either within the
institution or at a country-wide
setting.
Moderate production costs | low enrollment | close curriculum ties
May attract external funding |

16. CATEGORY 3 GRADUATE LITERACIES
Post-graduate level
courses to support
application or
programmes of study
Focussed on building
postgraduate literacies.
Likely to be of local or
national interest.
Moderate production costs | low enrollment | close curriculum ties
May attract external funding

17. CATEGORY 4 PROFESSIONAL SHOWCASE
Geared towards vocational skills
development, re-tooling and
professional development.
Could be offered in conjunction with
professional bodies.
Likely to be of local interest,
although some specialised topics
may be globally relevant. .
Moderate to high production costs |medium to high enrollment
Close curriculum ties |May attract organisational funding
High potential for pathway to credit or revenue generation

18. CATEGORY 5 RESEARCH SHOWCASE
Showcase research or more
specialised topics of interest
Offered at postgraduate level and
assume some background in the
topicstill geared towards general
or leisure learning.
Likely to have global appeal.
Moderate/high production costs | medium/high enrollment
Loose curriculum ties

19. Course offered simultaneously as a formal and
as a open course.
Small private open course nested inside a MOOC
Massive Online Course: formal course inspired by
MOOC pedagogy
Students in a course taking a MOOC with added
local support and additional material
Massive Open Online Course
Formal course with lectures and
support.

20. conventional flexible
FORMAL
SEMI-FORMAL
NON-FORMAL
Lectures
& tutorials
Short courses
Summer school
Blended courses Online courses
Professional development
courses
MOOC related
variants
Landscape of course provision - emerging variants

23. Source: Educational Development at the University of Basel

24. Learner, Educator and Researcher opportunities
USING MOOCS

25. PERSPECTIVES ON MOOCS
Participants
Institutional
researchers
Educators
What MOOCs exist
and why might I want
to do a MOOC?
What is there to
learn from MOOCs?
How can I use and
develop MOOCs?
Why are MOOCs
useful?

26. WHY TAKE A MOOC
o Learn new skills - valued by professionals
o Learn for fun/self enrichment - valued by
individuals
o Gives yourself a ‘taste’ of a new field or
subject – experience before committing
more time and money
o Earn a certificate for career advancement /
CPD

27. WHAT KIND OF LEARNING
Participant can choose:
o ‘Drop-in’ and have a look (like a magazine)
o Start out and decide how much (like taking a book
out of the library)
o Pick and choose what you want to explore(like a
reference book)
o Go along for the ride (like auditing a class)
o Engage fully with the intention of learning (like
taking a class)

28. PERSPECTIVES ON MOOCS
Participants
Institutional
researchers
Educators
What MOOCs exist
and why might I want
to do a MOOC?
What is there to
learn from MOOCs?
How can I use and
develop MOOCs?
Why are MOOCs
useful?

29. A RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY
o The massiveness of MOOCs, their
accessibility, and the wide range of
questions they raise make the topic a very
fertile area for research, and this is likely
to generate new methods of research and
analysis in the educational field (Bates,
2014)

30. RESEARCH OUTPUTS
o Our practices
• e.g., course and learning design, video production
• “Learning through engagement: MOOCs as an emergent form of
provision”
o Our processes
• e.g., monitoring, evacuation, theoretical/conceptual frameworks
• “A strategy for monitoring and evaluating Massive Open Online
Courses”
o Our impact
• e.g., how others see our work, OER, reuse
• “MOOCs, openness and changing educator practices: an Activity
Theory case study”
o Our context
• e.g., UCT and South African context, institutional needs
• “Developing world MOOCs: A curriculum view of the MOOC
landscape”

31. PERSPECTIVES ON MOOCS
Participants
Institutional
researchers
Educators
What MOOCs exist
and why might I want
to do a MOOC?
What is there to
learn from MOOCs?
How can I use and
develop MOOCs?
Why are MOOCs
useful?

32. WHY USE MOOCS?
Content
o benefit from other (high quality) educational resource
inputs as Open Educational Resources (OER)
o supplement gaps in current provision
Pedagogy
o extending the classroom
o building networks
o exposure to different contexts
o accessing experts
o putting African participants into a global network

33. USING EXISTING MOOCS
o Flipping courses with MOOCs
o Blending MOOCs with face-to-face classroom
sessions
o Use MOOCs as Learning Resources
o Use for Professional Development
o Wrapping a MOOC to supplementary skills for
students

34. Definitions
& case studies
WORKSHOP: MAKING USE OF MOOCS

35. GOALS OF THIS WORKSHOP
o How can you use MOOCs?
o How are you already using MOOCs?
o What opportunities do you see?

36. CASE STUDY 1:
OFFICE FOR POSTGRADUATE
STUDIES
o Tasneem Jaffer -
researcher
o Shanali Govender -
facilitator

37. BRIDGING

38. WRAPPING

39. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: CASE
STUDY ONE
1. Are there gaps in your
discipline/department which you can
think could filled using such a method?
List any possible topics for bridging
2. Would students be interested? How
could this work? Who could facilitate?
3. What challenges do you anticipate?

40. CASE STUDY 2:
MEDICINE AND THE ARTS
o Susan Levine
(anthropology)

41. http://ctl.utexas.edu/teaching

42. FLIPPING

43. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: CASE
STUDY 2
1. In what ways have you used flipped
methods? (eg. Asking students to view
youtube videos, lecture capture, etc).
2. Are there any purposes you could
imagine using a flipped method with
Open Education Resources (OER)?
3. What are the issues/problems you could
foresee with this approach?

44. CASE STUDY 3:
COPYRIGHTX
o Tobias
Schonwetter (IP
unit, Law)
o Bram Weile

45. PARTNERING

46. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: CASE
STUDY 3
1. Are there any institutions you could
imagine partnering around courses?
2. What would be the advantages?
3. What are the potential problems?