What the FOOC? Supporting staff in preparing to become open and online learners. [675] Members : OER15

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Wed, Apr 15 2015, 10:00am – 11:00am

Authors: Simon Thomson

Room: Rowe Beddoe Studio Second Floor Main Building

Theme: Open Courses

Type: Workshop

Description

“Far from realizing the high ideals of their advocates, MOOCs seem to be reinforcing the advantages of the ‘haves’ rather than educating the ‘have-nots’,” Ezekiel J. Emanuel commenting on his paper with Christensen, G. et al., 2013

Other similar emerging studies also conclude that MOOCs are predominantly the reserve of those with a higher education experience, as supported by the University of Edinburgh MOOC Report (2013) which stated;

“Over 70% of respondents indicated completion of degree-level academic achievement; a total of 40% respondents had achieved a postgraduate degree.”

Despite this, MOOCs also generally suffer from high rates of student “non-completion” and whilst it may be argued that some might come for only elements of the MOOC with no intention of completion this session will suggest that some of the reasons for non-completion are due to the fact that the learners are not equipped to learn online and openly in this way.

It should perhaps be noted that many learners who have had a University experience would have received a “very hands-on approach to learning, both through face-to-face interaction with peers and teachers.” Morris & Lambe (2014)

This “physical” experience is in contrast to the “virtual” experience of the MOOC which in some cases might feel lonely and often lacking any tutor support at all.

This session will introduce the participants to the concept of a FOOC (Facilitated Online Open Course) and in particular the use of the FOOC as a preparation for those wishing to undertake MOOCs in the future but who feel they are not equipped to do so.

The facilitated open online course is a MOOC experience at it’s core but with a local face-to-face physical presence to provide support for the learners as they prepare to become confident MOOC learners. The session will present curriculum content currently being developed for a new FOOC titled “Get Online & Get Open” (GoGo).

During the session participants will explore the concepts around the FOOC experience, be introduced to the curriculum design and be asked to contribute to it’s development through critical reflection and discussion to further enhance the learning design.

Christensen, G. et al., 2013. The MOOC Phenomenon: Who Takes Massive Open Online Courses and Why? Working Paper. Social Sciences Research Network. Available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2350964.

MOOCs@Edinburgh Group, 2013. MOOCs @ Edinburgh 2013: Report #1. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/1842/6683.

MOOCs, L. of & MOOCs, L. of, What is a MOOC? 8. Palgrave. Available at: http://www.palgrave.com/resources/Product-Page-Downloads/M/Morris-Studying-a-MOOC/Studying-a-MOOC-Neil-Morris-James-Lambe.pdf [Accessed November 14, 2021].

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