The 21st Century

Many teacher want to get their classes online for various reasons. The info here will help anyone set it up more professionally.

Some really interesting reflections and comments in this article. What makes the current form of MOOCs particularly challenging for the learner? Poonam argues that effective learning materials involve the learners and makes a case for the interactive MOOC - the iMOOC. "Those wanting to build iMOOCS – or at least include greater learner interactivity into their courses – could gather inspiration for their instructional design strategy from interactivity building tools."

Certain "truisms" run through articles written on MOOCs. One of the more consistent "stories" repeated from article to article involves the completion rate of MOOCs, hovering around 7%. There are many reasons why MOOCs have low completion rates, but typically the "story" is told as one of MOOC design failure, as in this piece. Quote from this article: "“To engage learners and keep them interested in the course - and motivated to continue and complete it, there’s a need to develop MOOCs that are highly interactive (iMOOCs). No wonder that MOOCs’ learner drop-out rates are extremely high,” [Poonam Jaypuriya] commented. “According to our information, typically, we’re seeing only seven or eight per cent of learners completing courses.” I agree with the 7% completion rate, which matches my hands-on experience. But I disagree with the assessment of why 93% of my students did not complete my MOOC. In fact, let's consider the admission requirements for a MOOC. Typically, a student submits an email address. There is no transcript verification, there is no statement of commitment (i.e. how much this "learner" will prioritize a free class when other life and work events occur during the course), and no really penalty from just dropping out of the course at any time for any reason. MOOCs are a fascinating experiment, and while some MOOCs clearly have a way to go to fully leverage the full and already available possibilities of a quality engaging online education, that is not the fundamental reason for low completion rates. MOOC providers need to figure out how to secure learning commitments from students. And to play the contrarian on this issue, I would argue that the top retention tools of traditional higher education have been tuition cost, admissions standards, and verifiable transcripts, not the quality of course design (and I mean course design principles as opposed to faculty reputation). 

GREAT DIGITAL DELIVERY

Remarkable how this subsector has taken off! Does anyone have a link to a critique and categorization?

Loving the disruption. Higher Ed is starting to quaver.

Anyone looking to get a better education. This is for you

Another list of MOOC providers.  A few new ones popping up.

Worth following up.

למי שקצת מתעניין באוצרות מתקדמת: איך משמרים תוכנות, קטעי קוד, "שיחות" שלמות ותהליכי פיתוח של משאבים לימודיים כדי לאפשר שימוש חוזר או שימוש ועיבוד מחדש. הצעה מעניינת ברוח "מרכזיות הקוד" של המתכנתים בקוד פתוח.

זה נושא מדובר מאוד כבר עשור שלם בהמשך לתנועת השימוש ב-OER (משאבי למידה פתוחים) . הכותב מציע להתיחס גם לשיח המשתמשים ולדיוים הלימודיים והמשאבים הנגזרים מאותם משאבים פתוחים כ"משאבים דיגיטליים" שיש לשמר ולאפשר לכלל הציבור לגשת אליהם ולהשתמש בהם.