Are MOOC's past their peak?

Are MOOC's past their peak?

• 1.
  MOOCs: Summiting One Peakand Now Climbing Another Jonathan Schaeffer Dean of Faculty of Science [email protected]
• 2.
  MOOC Reality Whether youagree or disagree with the idea behind MOOCs, they have already had one enormous benefit: When else has teaching received as much attention?
• 3.
  Getting Into MOOCs •The right reasons – Explore new teaching/learning methods – Be a research/teaching leader – Build national/international reputation – Showcase our research strengths – Set a standard for quality • The wrong reasons – Make money – Eliminate instructors
• 4.
  What We’ve Learned •Resistance to Change • Student Experience • Low Completion Rates • If You Build It, Will They Come? • Quality Costs Money • Production Not Core
• 5.
  1. Resistance toChange • Changing status quo is hard! • Doing it for the money – false, at least for now; but is this bad? • Online instruction can’t be as good as in-class – false; can even be better • MOOCs threaten the future of universities – true, but only for those that do not adapt to change • MOOCs will replace people – some truth to this (but can be used to free time)
• 6.
  2. Student Experience •One size does not fit all learners – In-class UofA experience (regimented) – Online UofA experience (flexible) • Excellent student feedback for MOOCs – Very high student evaluations – Very high completion rates – Flexibility appreciated – Students at risk benefitted
• 7.
  3. Low CompletionRates • Typically in the 4-7% range – Used to argue MOOCs are poor teaching venues • Are you surprised, given that the course is free and that it requires many hours of work? • Dino 101: 18% completion rate • Charge a small fee and completion rates go way up!
• 8.
  4. If YouBuild it They Will Come • Getting harder to build a “best seller” – >1,000 MOOCs available (many more coming) – >15 million registered MOOC students (but now growing slowly) • 2014 and before – One-of courses (#enrollments, 100s of 1000s, free) • 2015 and going forward – Specializations (#paying, 10s of 1000s, low cost)
• 9.
  5. Quality CostsMoney • Many low/poor quality MOOCs available – Assume the student will simply listen for 50 minutes – PowerPoint; Talking heads; Documentaries • Must exploit the medium – Multiple forms of media – Interactive learning objects – Filming (on location) – Online assessment – Social media – This can be costly!
• 10.
  6. Production isnot Core • University mission is research and teaching, not producing a MOOC • Academic: pedagogy, instruction, and assessment • Non-academic: computing infrastructure, filming, film editing, script editing, illustrations, video production design, graphic design software development, etc. • Outsource non-academic component
• 11.
  Formula for Success Pedagogy +Gamification + High-quality filming & editing production + Formative & summative assessment approaches + Online consumption/behavior strategy + Earned and viral media strategy = New higher standard of rigorous university MOOC P r o d u c t i o n Academic
• 12.
  Onlea • Not-for-profit Universityof Alberta spin-off company • Specializing in high-quality digital learning productions for university or industry • Onlea.org
• 13.
  Trends (1) • MOOCscan be “profitable” – Revenue (small so far, but there is potential) – Cost reductions (after investment cost) – Professional development opportunities • Move a large enrolment course online – Reduced instructor, TA, and space needs – Dino 101 reduces costs by over $100K/year – Frees up professor time
• 14.
  Trends (2) • Thereis a move to shorter courses – Students prefer “mini-MOOCs” – Equivalent of 4 weeks instead of 13 • There is a move to on-demand courses – Take the course any time – Self-directed learning – Meet student needs, not institutional rules
• 15.
  Trends (3) • Escapingthe “not invented here” disease • Use MOOC material from other institutions – Use as part of a course (with permission) – For credit (with permission) • Partnering – Multiple institutions banding together to develop a joint course – Challenge: can we do this?
• 16.
  Trends (4) • Electronictextbooks – The biggest disruption could be the overthrow of the exploitation of publishing houses • Use MOOCs as part of building comprehensive online resources that replace textbooks? – Assessment/practice is a challenge in some domains
• 17.
  Coming Soon: NewCourses • Dino 201/2/3 (corner the market) • Arctic 101, 201/2/3 (reputation) • Software Product Management (revenue) • Introductory courses in computing science, physics, biology (new ideas in pedagogy)
• 18.
  Dino 101 App •Entire course in a phone application • $9.99 US for the course (no exams) • Implications?
• 19.
  Where Is AllThis Going? • Once technology disrupts a market, it is relentless in making dramatic changes • Disruptive change must happen… and soon – Creating rich online learning experiences – Offering courses from other institutions – Changing the in-class experience – Creation of virtual universities • Exciting opportunities… for teaching and research