{"id":1096,"date":"2022-04-17T17:41:15","date_gmt":"2022-04-17T21:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/?p=1096"},"modified":"2022-04-20T11:01:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T15:01:46","slug":"team-brilliant-from-open-to-closed-a-brief-investigation-into-the-history-of-moocs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/team-brilliant-from-open-to-closed-a-brief-investigation-into-the-history-of-moocs\/","title":{"rendered":"From Open to Closed: A Team Investigation into the Impact of MOOCs"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.17.0″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”43px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of our assignment for LRNT526: Inquiry into Contemporary Issues in Learning Technologies, we were asked to conduct a critical inquiry on a delivery technology and learning event. Our team for this activity (Team Brilliant) includes Ashley Breton, Emma Keating<\/span><\/a>, Alison Kendrick<\/span><\/a>, and Karen McMurray<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our team selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as our technology to explore, research, and present. Collectively, we are auditing \u201cThe Science of Wellbeing<\/span><\/a>\u201d (TSW), a free Yale course taught by Dr. Laurie Santos offered through Coursera. We chose Coursera because it is the largest MOOC provider \u2014 with over 100 million students worldwide (Shah, 2021<\/span>) \u2014 TSW being one of the most popular within the Coursera MOOC lineup (Foster, 2020<\/span><\/span>).<\/p>\n

Our initial research relied on blogs, online newspapers, reports, and peer-reviewed articles to immerse ourselves in the current conversation surrounding MOOCs: their use, history, and potential drawbacks. Since their inception, MOOCs have provided greater access to online learning to a greater number of people, at a much lower cost than traditional education (Bates, 2014<\/span>).<\/p>\n

The MOOC phenomenon started out in 2008 as a single course on learning theory called \u201cConnectivism and Connective Knowledge\u201d offered at the University of Manitoba<\/span><\/a>, where fee-paying university students and non-fee paying online students from the general public studied together on a voluntary basis (Watters, n.d.<\/span>). At this time, a MOOC (referred to as a cMOOC: Connectivist MOOC) was an open-access interactive course available on the Web to anyone, anywhere, at no cost (Bates, 2014<\/span>). Hallmarks of this technology platform included features, such as, flexible and collaborative learning and open licensing of content to promote the reuse and remixing of resources (Massive Open Online Course, 2022<\/span>).<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the present day, MOOCs, now dubbed xMOOCs, are a very different model from their origins. Most notably, they are no longer free, as a service layer was added to support learners, are no longer very interactive, as they follow a more traditional university lecture model, and are no longer open, as content cannot be repurposed or reused without permission (Bates, 2014<\/span>). In addition, MOOCs today rely on computer automation and new software to accommodate higher numbers of synchronous participants (Murphy et al., 2014<\/span>). Moreover, most present-day MOOCs are offered by a handful of well-known providers, namely Coursera, Udemy, EdX, and Udacity.<\/p>\n

The current debate around the impact of MOOCs is divided. Ed-tech hype in the early 2010s claimed MOOCs were a \u201cdisruptive\u201d technology or were regarded as game-changers that would essentially replace higher education (Christensen, 2010 as cited in Bates, 2014<\/span>). Sebastian Thrun, former Stanford professor and founder of MOOC provider Udacity, claimed that \u201cin 50 years, there would only be 10 universities, and Udacity would be one of them\u201d (Bonk et al., 2017<\/span>, p. xiii). The New York Times even went so far as dubbing 2012 \u201cThe Year of the MOOC\u201d (Pappano, 2012<\/span>).<\/p>\n

The benefits of MOOCs are undeniable. MOOCs fill a gap for learners who lack the time and money to physically attend a course offering high-quality content. However, others have been more skeptical and point to their failure to live up to their promise of providing knowledge to every citizen in the world (Marshall, 2014<\/span>). Bates (2016<\/span>) points out that MOOCs are not \u201cdisruptive\u201d at all, but merely an adaptation of 15 years worth of well-established pedagogical approaches in online learning.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, despite the seemingly unlimited access to free information offered by MOOC providers, most students drop out of their online courses before completion. According to Murphy et al. (2014<\/span>), some MOOCs have less than a 10% completion rate, with one of the most common reasons for dropping out being a lack of live teacher-student engagement. The question then follows, are MOOCs indeed living up to their hype? Are they changing the game of online learning? George Siemens, Canada\u2019s MOOC pioneer, says no. He suggests MOOC advocates responsible for driving the hype were never really interested in fulfilling the original MOOC vision of universal education for all, but were more interested in marketing MOOCs as a new technology product to capitalize on (Tamburri, 2014<\/span>), which, at least in part, could explain their many shortcomings.<\/p>\n

Our critical inquiry will examine MOOCs through a systematic review of \u201cThe Science of Wellbeing<\/span><\/a>\u201d (TSW), using personal observations from our learning event and evidence from peer-reviewed research to determine the strengths and weaknesses of this technology. Using knowledge gained from both research and experience, we will endeavor to answer the following questions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How do MOOCs expand the democratization of education, and how do they detract from it?<\/li>\n
  2. In terms of course design, what barriers do culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students<\/a><\/span> face when engaging with this technology? How is space created for those outside the anglosphere<\/a><\/span>?<\/li>\n
  3. How do we improve MOOC completion rates by increasing student participation and motivation?<\/li>\n
  4. How are MOOCs suited for corporate training? Can MOOCs for corporate training be the disrupters of MOOCs for higher education?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We invite our colleagues to share experiences, understanding, and opinions on MOOCs. What is wrong or right with them? Are they or are they not living up to their promise of universal education?<\/p>\n

    <\/em><\/p>\n

    References<\/em><\/p>\n

    Bates, T. (2014, October 12). What is a MOOC [Blog]? Tony Bates. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2014\/10\/12\/what-is-a-mooc\/<\/p>\n

    Bates, T. (2016, July 20). Online learning for beginners:3. \u2018Aren\u2019t MOOCs online learning [Blog]? Tony Bates. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2016\/07\/20\/online-learning-for-beginners-3-arent-moocs-online-learning\/<\/p>\n

    Bonk, C., Lee, M., Reeves, T., & Reynolds, R. (2017). The role of MOOCs and the future of education. In MOOCs and open education around the world. The University of California. Retrieved from https:\/\/ca1lib.org\/book\/5285135\/7f6abe<\/p>\n

    Foster, L. (2020, October 13) These are the most popular online courses on Coursera. World Economic Forum Jobs Reset Summit.
    https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2020\/10\/2019-most-popular-moocs-coursera\/<\/p>\n

    Maggioncalda, J. (2020). Coursera impact report. Coursera. Retrieved from https:\/\/about.coursera.org\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Coursera-Impact-Report-2020.pdf<\/p>\n

    Marshall, S. (2014). Exploring the ethical implications of MOOCs. Distance Education. DOI: 10.1080\/01587919.2014.917706.<\/p>\n

    Massive Open Online Course (2022, April 15). Wikipedia. Retrieved from https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Massive_open_online_course<\/p>\n

    Murphy, J., Williams, A., & Lennox, A. (2014). MOOCs in VET and higher education. 22nd National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference \u2018No Frills\u2019: refereed papers. Australian College of Applied
    Education. 76-82. https:\/\/www.ncver.edu.au\/__data\/assets\/file\/0025\/16765\/22nd-no-frills-2728.pdf#page=78<\/p>\n

    Pappano, L. (2012). The year of the MOOC. The New York Times. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/11\/04\/education\/edlife\/massive-open-online-courses-are-multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html<\/p>\n

    Shah, D. (2021, December 14). Year of MOOC-based degrees: A review of MOOC stats and trends in 2021. ClassCentral. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.classcentral.com\/report\/moocs-stats-and-trends-2021\/<\/p>\n

    Tamburri, R. (2014, February 12). An interview with Canadian MOOC pioneer George Siemens. University Affairs. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.universityaffairs.ca\/features\/feature-article\/an-interview-with-canadian-mooc-pioneer-george-siemens\/<\/p>\n

    Watters, A. (n.d.). MOOCS: The what, the how, and the why. E-learning Matters. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.e-learningmatters.com\/moocs-the-what-the-how-and-the-why\/<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0 As part of our assignment for LRNT526: Inquiry into Contemporary Issues in Learning Technologies, we were asked to conduct a critical inquiry on a delivery technology and learning event. Our team for this activity (Team Brilliant) includes Ashley Breton, Emma Keating, Alison Kendrick, and Karen McMurray. Our team selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"As part of our assignment for LRNT526: Inquiry into Contemporary Issues in Learning Technologies, we were asked to conduct a critical inquiry on a delivery technology and learning event. Our team for this activity (Team Brilliant) includes Ashley Breton, Emma Keating, Alison Kendrick, and Karen McMurray.\r\n\r\nOur team selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as our technology to explore, research, and present. Collectively, we are auditing \u201cThe Science of Wellbeing\u201d (TSW), a free Yale course taught by Dr. Laurie Santos offered through Coursera. We chose Coursera because it is the largest MOOC provider \u2014 with over 220 million students worldwide (Shah, 2021) \u2014 TSW being one of the most popular within the Coursera MOOC lineup (Foster, 2020). \r\n\r\nOur initial research relied on blogs, online newspapers, reports, and peer-reviewed articles to immerse ourselves in the current conversation surrounding MOOCs: their use, history, and potential drawbacks. Since their inception, MOOCs have provided greater access to online learning to a greater number of people, at a much lower cost than traditional education (Bates, 2014). \r\nThe MOOC phenomenon started out in 2008 as a single course on learning theory called \u201cConnectivism and Connective Knowledge\u201d offered at the University of Manitoba, where fee-paying university students and non-fee paying online students from the general public studied together on a voluntary basis (Watters, n.d.). At this time, a MOOC (referred to as a cMOOC: Connectivist MOOC) was an open-access interactive course available on the Web to anyone, anywhere, at no cost (Bates, 2014). Hallmarks of this technology platform included features, such as, flexible and collaborative learning and open licensing of content to promote the reuse and remixing of resources (Massive Open Online Course, 2022). \r\n\r\nFast forward to the present day, MOOCs, now dubbed xMOOCs, are a very different model from their origins. Most notably, they are no longer free, as a service layer was added to support learners, are no longer very interactive, as they follow a more traditional university lecture model, and are no longer open, as content cannot be repurposed or reused without permission (Bates, 2014). In addition, MOOCs today rely on computer automation and new software to accommodate higher numbers of synchronous participants (Murphy et al., 2014). Moreover, most present-day MOOCs are offered by a handful of well-known providers, namely Coursera, Udemy, EdX, and Udacity. \r\n\r\nThe current debate around the impact of MOOCs is divided. Ed-tech hype in the early 2010s claimed MOOCs were a \u201cdisruptive\u201d technology or were regarded as game-changers that would essentially replace higher education (Christensen, 2010 as cited in Bates, 2014). Sebastian Thrun, former Stanford professor and founder of MOOC provider Udacity, claimed that \u201cin 50 years, there would only be 10 universities, and Udacity would be one of them\u201d (Seimens, 2017 as cited in Bonk et al., p. xiii). The New York Times even went so far as dubbing 2012 \u201cThe Year of the MOOC\u201d (Pappano, 2012). \r\nThe benefits of MOOCs are undeniable. MOOCs fill a gap for learners who lack the time and money to physically attend a course offering high-quality content. However, others have been more skeptical and point to their failure to live up to their promise of providing knowledge to every citizen in the world (Marshall, 2014). Bates (2016) points out that MOOCs are not \u201cdisruptive\u201d at all, but merely an adaptation of 15 years worth of well-established pedagogical approaches in online learning.\r\n \r\nUnfortunately, despite the seemingly unlimited access to free information offered by MOOC providers, most students drop out of their online courses before completion. According to Murphy et al. (2014), some MOOCs have less than a 10% completion rate, with one of the most common reasons for dropping out being a lack of live teacher-student engagement. The question then follows, are MOOCs indeed living up their hype? Are they changing the game of online learning? George Siemens, Canada\u2019s MOOC pioneer, says no. He suggests MOOC advocates responsible for driving the hype were never really interested in fulfilling the original MOOC vision of universal education for all, but were more interested in marketing MOOCs as a new technology product to capitalize on (Tamburri, 2014), which, at least in part, could explain their many shortcomings.\r\n\r\nOur critical inquiry will examine MOOCs through a systematic review of \u201cThe Science of Wellbeing\u201d (TSW), using personal observations from our learning event and evidence from peer-reviewed research to determine the strengths and weaknesses of this technology. Using knowledge gained from both research and experience, we will endeavor to answer the following questions:\r\n\r\nHow do MOOCs expand the democratization of education, and how do they detract from it? \r\nIn terms of course design, what barriers do culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students face when engaging with this technology? How is space created for those outside the anglosphere?\r\nHow do we improve MOOC completion rates by increasing student participation and motivation?\r\nHow are MOOCs suited for corporate training? Can MOOCs for corporate training be the disrupters of MOOCs for higher education? \r\n\r\nWe invite our colleagues to share experiences, understanding, and opinions on the morality of MOOCs. What is wrong or right with MOOCs? Are they or are they not living up to their promise of universal education?\r\n\r\n\r\nReferences<\/em>\r\nBates, T. (2014, October 12). What is a MOOC [Blog]? Tony Bates. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2014\/10\/12\/what-is-a-mooc\/\r\n\r\nBates, T. (2016, July 20). Online learning for beginners:3. \u2018Aren\u2019t MOOCs online learning [Blog]? Tony Bates. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.tonybates.ca\/2016\/07\/20\/online-learning-for-beginners-3-arent-moocs-online-learning\/\r\n\r\nBonk, C., Lee, M., Reeves, T., & Reynolds, R. (2017). The role of MOOCs and the future of education. In MOOCs and open education around the world. The University of California. Retrieved from https:\/\/ca1lib.org\/book\/5285135\/7f6abe \r\n\r\nFoster, L. (2020, October 13) These are the most popular online courses on Coursera. World Economic Forum Jobs Reset Summit.\r\nhttps:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2020\/10\/2019-most-popular-moocs-coursera\/\r\n\r\nMaggioncalda, J. (2020). Coursera impact report. Coursera. Retrieved from https:\/\/about.coursera.org\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Coursera-Impact-Report-2020.pdf\r\n\r\nMarshall, S. (2014). Exploring the ethical implications of MOOCs. Distance Education. DOI: 10.1080\/01587919.2014.917706.\r\n\r\nMassive Open Online Course (2022, April 15). Wikipedia. Retrieved from https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Massive_open_online_course\r\n\r\nMurphy, J., Williams, A., & Lennox, A. (2014). MOOCs in VET and higher education. 22nd National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference \u2018No Frills\u2019: refereed papers. Australian College of Applied \r\nEducation. 76-82. https:\/\/www.ncver.edu.au\/__data\/assets\/file\/0025\/16765\/22nd-no-frills-2728.pdf#page=78\r\n\r\nPappano, L. (2012). The year of the MOOC. The New York Times. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/11\/04\/education\/edlife\/massive-open-online-courses-are-multiplying-at-a-rapid-pace.html \r\n\r\nShah, D. (2021, December 14). Year of MOOC-based degrees: A review of MOOC stats and trends in 2021. ClassCentral. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.classcentral.com\/report\/moocs-stats-and-trends-2021\/\r\n\r\nTamburri, R. (2014, February 12). An interview with Canadian MOOC pioneer George Siemens. University Affairs. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.universityaffairs.ca\/features\/feature-article\/an-interview-with-canadian-mooc-pioneer-george-siemens\/\r\n\r\nWatters, A. (n.d.). MOOCS: The what, the how, and the why. E-learning Matters. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.e-learningmatters.com\/moocs-the-what-the-how-and-the-why\/\r\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[101],"class_list":["post-1096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lrnt526","tag-moocs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1096"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1122,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1096\/revisions\/1122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0205\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}