What’s with the MOOCs? How MOOC Learning Reaches Students through

TPD

Vance StevensHigher Colleges of Technology, UAE

AAMC / PACE / KBZAC

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

You don’t need to take notes!

All my slides are online• http://slideshare.net/vances

A writeup of this presentation will appear in the next issue of http://tesl-ej.org/ , drafted here:• http://tinyurl.com/tacon2013vance

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

Early MOOCs for ESLMOOCs started with CCK08 in 2008, but …• 1997 http://study.com

(1000’s)• 1998: Writing for

Webheads (100’s)• 2001: Electronic Village

Online EVO (1000’s)• 2002: Webheads in Action (100’s-1000)

From Leigh Blackall’s post: http://www.leighblackall.com/2012/10/a-trueer-history-of-moocs.html

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

MultiMOOC

http://goodbyegutenberg.pbworks.com

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

The spirit of multiMOOC?• Aspires to be– Distributed /

Connectivist– Directed at constructed

knowledge– Unstructured / informal– Negotiated– Self-directed– Self assessed– Directed at deep

learning vs. training

• Follows Cormier’s 5 steps for success in a MOOC– Orient– Declare– Network– Cluster– Focus

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

OK, then, what is a MOOC?

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

What is a MOOC• Massive - about scale

– relies on increased chance of interactions from a critical mass of participants

– curriculum more and more from participants; less from top down• Open - not just free, but

– open access– open syllabus, not necessarily pre-scribed

• Online - – Internet changes equation where the balance is tipped toward abundance– completely different playing field from scarcity

• Course - – Structure– Cohesion based in experience

MePortfolios - Vance Stevens - Aug 2011 8

Connectivism

In this YouTube video, Siemens says at min 1:13http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqL_lsogeNU&feature=youtu.be

"Have you ever thought about how completely irrelevant structured learning is?"

Siemens, G. (2004-5). Connectivism: A Learning theory for the digital age. Elearnspace. Retrieved August 17, 2011 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Siemens’s conclusions can be startling

MePortfolios - Vance Stevens - Aug 2011 9

Siemens on ‘the path to knowledge’

• “I’m not aware of any research actually that says linear structure produces better outcomes than more chaotic meandering structure.

• Our intent, based on our theories of learning is to argue that the experience of learning, making sense of that chaos, is actually the heart of the learning experience,

• but if an instructor makes sense of that chaos for you and gives you all the readings and sets the full path in place for you then to a degree you are eviscerating the learner’s experience because now you’ve made sense of them and all you’ve told them is ‘walk the path that I’ve formed’.

• When it comes to complexity I’m a great fan of letting learner’s hack their way through that path and getting the value of that learning experience and that sense-making process.”

Quotes on this and next slide transcribed fromhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMfipxhT_Co&feature=related.

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

Why MOOCs

Stephen Downes 2012; posted in Alan Levine: http://cogdogblog.com/2012/09/21/just-ds106/

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

OK, then, what is a MOOC?

Lisa Lane : http://lisahistory.net/wordpress/2012/08/three-kinds-of-moocs/

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

xMOOCs and cMOOCsSource: http://mooc13.wordpress.com/kategorien/vergleich-x-und-c/

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

Downside of xMOOCs?

• Throw-back to old models of learning

• Potentially negative impacts on branding

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

What are they good for?

Domains of the Cynefin model: David Snowdenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

What’s in it for language teachers?

• MOOCs must be experienced! (Take one)• Help teachers become master learners• Focus on WHY things happen vs. HOW• Help teachers learn about – Learning strategies and heuristics– Collaborative learning

Picture source: http://www.mtlsd.org/mellon/teams/ironbrigade/bloomsdigitaltaxonomy.asp

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

The Future of MOOCs

“The connectivism model will become the primary model … they have to grow to become cMOOCS ... They will do that over time” - Stephen Downes’s sketch from https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2012-09-26.0742.M.9E9FE58134BE68C3B413F24B3586CF.vcr&sid=2008350

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

Prediction

it won’t be long before MOOCs become more mainstream for language learning

and teacher training

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

What else do you want to know?

Almost 500 posts about MOOCs: http://www.downes.ca/mooc_posts.htm http://

advanceducation.blogspot.ae/2012/11/when-is-mooc-not-mooc-what-mooc-means.html #353 of 474 references)

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

Where to find MOOCs?

http://www.openculture.com/free_certificate_courses

http://www.mooc-list.com/

Steve Hargadon’s Classroom 2.0 http://www.mooc.me/

Vance Stevens - TACON Conference Dubai - March 2013

And of course …

All my slides are onlinehttp://slideshare.net/vances

A writeup of this presentation will appear in the next issue of http://tesl-ej.org/ , drafted here:

http://tinyurl.com/tacon2013vance