- MOOCs were initially seen as a way to provide open education to the 100 million adults who cannot afford university, but many MOOC students turn out to be already educated individuals. - A study of a FutureLearn MOOC on the Romans found that most participants were middle-aged women from the UK, US, Australia or Canada who had previously studied the topic or taken an online course. Only 5-10% on average complete MOOCs internationally. - MOOCs can potentially benefit current university students by exposing them to simple, mobile-friendly online learning platforms without the restrictions of university learning management systems. They also allow students to try online learning before taking online courses.

1. www.le.ac.uk
‘Why is the MOOC environment better
than our VLE?’
and other Open Educational challenges and
benefits to current HE practice
From OERs to MOOCs:
HEA CLL Event 31 March 2014
Terese Bird
Learning Technologist and
SCORE Research Fellow
Institute of Learning Innovation
Photo by FullyFunctnlPhil on Flickr

2. What will we talk about?
Photo by Aaron Hockley, Flickr
• Who is Open Education for?
• The disappointment of MOOCs
• How MOOCs benefit current
students
• How can we encourage benefits?
• Benefits of open educational practice

3. MOOC platforms are attractive because:
• Simple
• Mobile-friendly
• No Turnitin
Photo by lorenabuena on Flickr

4. Image by James Cridland
Who is open education for?
100 million adults can’t afford university (UNESCO)

5. The disappointment of MOOCs
Photo by JD Lasica on Flickr

6. The disappointment of MOOCs
Photo by JD Lasica on Flickr
• Privileged, educated
• Recruitment

7. Who studied the FutureLearn RIII MOOC?
N=2285 or 22% of enrollees
Image by lisby1 on Flickr
• 69% Females over 45 years old
• UK 76%
• USA 9%
• Australia 2%
• Canada 2%

8. Who studied the FutureLearn RIII MOOC?
• 52% already studied the topic or working in
the topic (history, archaeology)
• 35% had studied an online course previously
• Of the above, 50% uni course for credit, 32%
other MOOCs

9. Learner participation in RIII MOOC
• 74% visited the course a few times a week or
more
• 83% spent at least 30 minutes on the course
each visit
• Average of 8 comments total in discussion
• 30% thought it was a bit or much too easy

10. Learner completion in RIII MOOC
In the final week:
• 42% unique visitors visited that week’s
materials
• 28% marked an activity as complete
• 5-10% average completion rate for MOOCs
internationally

11. How MOOCs benefit current students:
MOOC platforms are attractive because:
• Simple
• Mobile-friendly
• No Turnitin
Photo by lorenabuena on Flickr

12. “Why can’t we use the MOOC platform
instead of our regular VLE for actual
teaching?”
Photo by Dave on Flickr

13. Why are we so willing to spend this
money on potential students but not on
enrolled students?
– LeicesterUni app gets more attention than Bbd
Mobile
– iTunes U for outsiders but no iTunes for students
– False advertising with ‘taster’ MOOCs

14. Do MOOCs benefit students?
Evaluation of FutureLearn MOOC
• Why did students sign up for MOOC?
– To try out new things 85%
– To try FutureLearn or a MOOC 53%
– To try out learning online 46%
• Did the course meet your expectations?
– Yes, met my expectations 49%
– Exceeded my expectations 42%

15. From our evaluation:
MOOCs benefit students and the institution
• By giving students a
chance to try online
learning for the first time
• By allowing students to
consider online learning
as an option in their own
studies

16. Open Education practices benefit students:
• MOOCs can benefit currently enrolled students: Northampton
– University of Northampton Skills MOOC to benefit current
and prospective students
– Skills/A-Level-Type MOOC planned at University of
Leicester – recruitment plus current students
– University of Nottingham
• By making online learning more acceptable
• By showcasing innovations we actually achieve with online
learning

17. Open Education practices benefit students:
• By making good learning materials more accessible (don’t
have to go to library)
• Good materials can go on mobile devices for offline viewing
– iPad app for Security, Conflict, and International
Development Masters – needs CC-licensed material
– One-iPad-per-Medical-Student

19. Open Education practices benefit students:
• Students can do more with open access materials
– English/Linguistics assignment needed open-access
articles or CC learning materials
– Museum Studies students creating exhibits wanted CC-
licensed material
Photo by
Terese Bird
CC-BY

20. How can we encourage more benefits?

21. New OER Advice for Instructors

22. Copyright advice encourages CC use
• Flickr CC search
• Google CC search
• University of Leicester Copyright for Academic
Instructors – some taken from London South Bank
University, reused, repurposed, made available CC:
http://www2.le.ac.uk/library/downloads/copyright/
UoL_Library_Copyright_For_Academic_Modules_Bo
oklet_Mar_2011_v2.01.pdf