Towards e-presence at distance as a way to reach and share e-quality: the case of the ECO sMOOCs eMOOCs2017

Towards e-presence at distance as a way to
reach and share e-quality: the case of the
ECO sMOOCs
Divina Frau-Meigs, Sorbonne Nouvelle, CREW
Adeline Bossu, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, MICA
Keywords: sMOOC · Quality · E-presence · Cognitive presence · Social presence · Designed
presence · Model · distance · ECO project · sustainability · E-quality · Participants

Towards e-presence at distance as a way to reach and share e-quality: the case of the ECO sMOOCs
Divina Frau-Meigs & Adeline Bossu
 Original approach to e-presence in social participatory MOOCs (or sMOOCs),
taking the case of EU-funded ECO project on sMOOCs.
 Model for e-presence based on the different layers proposed by Garrison and
Anderson (2003):
- “cognitive presence” (emphasis on the reflexive)
- “social presence” (emphasis on the collaborative) to which
- “designed presence” is added (emphasis on the platform constraints and
opportunities) (Frau-Meigs 2013).

European project funded by European Commission
in Competitiveness and innovation framework programme
Theme 2: “digital satisfied, open dated and creativity”.
22 PARTNERS

The ECO project purports to design MOOCs that respond to the acquisition of
digital competences for inclusion (www.ecolearning.eu).
Main phases:
• The pedagogical model sMOOC
• 17 pilot sMOOCs with ECO diversified teams;
• Learners become e-teachers themselves, on the basis of their participation in
the pilot MOOCs, especially the sMOOC to learn how to make sMOOCs, the
“Step by Step”.
• E-teachers sMOOCs

Pedagogical Design sMOOC
Recombines social-constructive approaches and connectivist approaches, with a
strong reliance on tutors and mediators emanating from a strong community of inquiry
(Siemens 2008; McAdam and McCreedy 2000).
 cMOOC ‘Focus on community and connections’
 Social ‘learning experience marked by social interactions and participation’
 Pedagogical approach: connectivism, situated learning, socio-constructivism
 Inclusion + Ubiquitous and mobile + Accessibility (special needs)
 Learner- centred - flexibility - digital inclusion
 Open licence policy
 Wide variety of target populations
 Diversity of purposes and local, contextual implementations

Producing the
17 sMOOC PILOTS + 9 additional ECO sMOOC
Ensuring the deployment and validation of the
sMOOC PILOT Year 1, 2 and 3
Planning – Implementation – Support
9 HUBS – 5 platforms – 6 languages
8 weeks duration
3 editions or more
Analysing and Improving of each pilot intermediate
results

External Partners sMOOC
Ensuring the deployment and validation of the
NEW sMOOC
e-teacher sMOOC
Pedagogical assistance
Technical assistance
Management assistance

One portal - 5 platforms - 6 languages
81 sMOOC
135 Iterations
56 500 participants
All contents available

IN ECO, THE LEVELS OF EMBEDDEDNESS OF THE THREE LAYERS OF E-
PRESENCE ARE ALL FULLY VISIBLE.
Model for e-presence based on the different layers proposed by Garrison and
Anderson (2003):
- “cognitive presence” (emphasis on the reflexive)
- “social presence” (emphasis on the collaborative) to which
- “designed presence” is added (emphasis on the platform
constraints and opportunities) (Frau-Meigs 2013).

In ECO, Cognitive presence is facilitated in the different postures the learner can opt
for. The sMOOC “DIY Media Information Literacy” proposes several pathways:
“explorer”, “analyst” and “creator”, buttressed on a roadmap and a cognitive
scaffolding
The sMOOC DIY MIL critical pathways

In ECO, social presence
• the extensive use of videos in sMOOCs and the links that point to other
participants as a kind of social network of affinities that also present the benefit
of fostering intercultural dialogue as visible in the sMOOC “Step by Step”.
• The “groups” functionality also allows to work and solve cases by getting
people to collaborate on projects
• Live events help sustain a shared social presence as well as the possibility for
the participants to “follow” each other and to geolocalize if they wish to meet
face to face as seen with the “PhDOOC”.
The group wall functionality with microblogging tool from the Step
by Step sMOOC
A live-webconference from the sMOOC PhDOOC

In ECO, social presence
Besides, the internal social networks and the external commercial
networks allowed participants to express several levels of emotions
according to their felt level of privacy and public openness.
Social network graph indicating connection between learners

In ECO designed presence:
• the sMOOC Learning Lab,
• the sMOOC Step by Step.
They help the e-teachers and participants to mobilize their own cognitive scripts
and their reflexivity of their needs and functionalities available

 This process of reflexivity on e-presence was first implemented and tested by
the creators of the platform and its content according to the participatory
sMOOC model.
 When applied to e-teachers, the early teams endeavored to provide a similar
experience, all the more so as the e-teachers were participants and had an
early experience of learning via sMOOCs scheme.
 E-teachers as well as their trainers were exposed to similar questions and
processes, the only difference being the scale and the level of reflexivity
(Hodgson and Reynolds, 2005; Wright, 2005). The same person then gets to
change status according to the phases of ECO in which she/he evolves.
 This increases reflexivity, proximity, awareness of representations of
authority and knowledge, attention to others’ diversity.

To ensure e-quality, ECO partners:
Ensuring sustainability via shareable and transferable
templates
Evaluating intermediate and final assessment of the results
Ensuring scalability via learning spaces and dedicated
application
The contribution of e-presence to e-quality

CHECKLIST
Peer to Peer
assessment
Self-
assessment
Supervisor
assessment
3 levels
Ensuring e-quality
with other partners

To describe a
representative
sMOOC with the
pedagogical and
technical sMOOC
ECO features
sMOOC ECO GUIDE
Ensuring sustainability via shareable
and transferable templates

The sMOOC
Learning Lab
To train e-teachers and create
community
Tutorials Collaborative
Spaces
Ensuring scalability via learning
spaces and dedicated application

The transversal sMOOC
Step by Step (6 languages)
To train e-teachers and
create communities

THE ECO BACKOFFICE APPLICATION
For participants and future e-teachers

THE ECO BACKOFFICE APPLICATION
For HUBs and WP3

LEARNING ANALYTICS TOOLS
Evaluating intermediate and final
assessment of the results
LEARNING ANALYTICS GUIDE AND
MODEL

SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE
OVERALL EXPERIENCE
FURTHER MOOCS IN THE FUTURE?
LEARNING EXPERIENCE
All sMOOC Iterations
Analysis
Evaluating intermediate and final
assessment of the results

Rmk: Social presence is less emphasized in these tools because other
functionalities already existed a part and parcel of the platform used (chats, forums,
….) and social networks used in parallel for communication.
e-presence / Tools & spaces

All these tools help the e-teachers in the creation of their own e-presence.
This process in turn benefits the other participants, which will be able to create
sMOOCs and establish their e-presence as well.
 This snowball strategy produces a multiplier effect that can use the benefits
of heavy prototype investment at the beginning by ensuring some sustainability
over time.
 Such a process is part of the ECO model whose reflexivity contributes to the
specificity and originality of European MOOCs in the global MOOCosphere.
Conclusion 1 : ECO model & multiplier effect

 After all these levels of presence, reflexivity and transferability,
participatory pedagogy in sMOOCs helps presence at a distance, and
makes it part of e-quality.
 As a result, e-quality is being redesigned by MOOCs. There is a qualitative
shift: e-quality itself changes when the three types of presence (cognitive, social
and designed) are brought together to ensure purpose, reflexivity and
sustainability. This points to how the ECO model expands the institutional value
of e-presence.
Conclusion 2 : e-quality optimized and redisigned

 e-presence needs to be related to e-quality as a multifaceted “process of co-
production between the learner and the learning-environment” (Ehlers 2004: 2).
 e-presence needs to be taken more into account in the design of MOOCS and
also in their quality assurance as it is an empowering process that enables the
learner.
 e-presence needs to be ensured all through the learning service, to ascertain
that quality is not just an outcome of the e-learning platform.
 e-presence should be used to diminish distance and to bring awareness to
pedagogical and technical design and functionalities.
Conclusion

Towards e-presence at distance as a way to reach and share e-quality: the case of the ECO sMOOCs eMOOCs2017

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