Change is inevitable, MOOCs help planning change

Inge Ignatia de Waard

What I will talk about

• Panta rhei (everything flows/changes)• Take action• What can MOOCs do for you• Just do it!

When you see a questionmark =>Chat your answer here or mail it to me: ingedewaard@gmail.com

Panta Rhei

Heraclitus (500 BC) – Everything Flows as such every stability is an illusion.

Change is inevitable and it is one of life’s constants

Change we notice most is … :• Getting wrinkles and we are perceived as ‘old’• Realizing our jobs become automated• Economic crisis hits … security is gone• Regional/global shift in job options• Technology changes in our professions • New guidelines add administrative time demands• Health disaster strikes• We get fired• We retire …

But positive change always feels great

• New life enters our life• We change jobs and it pays off• We start a business and grow• We get wiser• New opportunities come our way => we grab them!

=> We take our lives in our own hands

What is our Choice?

Or we let change come over us

Or we take some of the change in our own hands (J.P. Sartre said: on a toujours le choix même celui de ne pas choisir. We always have a choice, even the one to not choose)

And MOOCs offer new opportunities

Take action

=>

Realign what we say with what we do

• What is your biggest dream? • What is your ambition?

We are (to an extend) the rulers of our lives, the co-creators, but change is never an individual act. Everyone is affected (cfr work, family…).

Forget Utopia, but … we can create our own wonderful life

• What would feel like heaven? (goal, current/future)• Who will it affect? (communicate, explore options)• Stepping plan: how to go about it? YOUR life

Where does MOOC come in?

Dream

Goal

StepsEvaluation

Adjust

Change: time and effort

• How much time are you willing to put in?• What are your job demands? (time on job?)• Can your family conditions help (less chores?)• Do you need to pause some hobbies?

What can MOOCs do for you?

Learning and training softens & prepares changeGetting savvy helps everyone.

Learning is a natural phenomenon

• Learning is literally in the genes.• Technology can only enhance learning at best.• Technology can increase the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky a.o.) (social networking http://marybethhermans.synthasite.com/resources/SocialNetwrkingWeb2.0.pdf zone of proximal development)• Technology can make learning more authentic• It can make linking to prior experiences easier.

Learning lasts a lifetime: from the cradle to the grave

• Infant/Child learning: what it takes to be part of local/global society• Vocational and professional learning: obtaining mastery in a specific field• Personal interest learning (music, sports…)• Lifelong learning (staying in tune with current knowledge and changes)• Learning to accept new physical and mental realities (disability, sickness, getting older…

approaching death)

For approximately 40 years: staying on top of our field is a professional necessity (picture from Anne Mette Edeltoft)

How can a MOOC help with change?

Because you strategically want it to help• You need to sharpen your knowledge (follow a MOOC)• You are part of an expert management layer or expert group and you

want to stay on top (expert peer to peer MOOC, everyone presents)• Your communities need to connect (peer network linking)• Disaster strikes, people/medics/locals need to get informed (Set up an

emergency MOOC)• You are one of the few having specific expertise (organize a MOOC

with the others as facilitators)• Or partner up with one. There is a big demand for specific higher Ed.

knowledge (organize a MOOC using educational platforms: Coursera, Udacity, EdX…)

5 core skills you will need to develop

Remember and embrace the MOOC face!(Alec Couros, a MOOC pioneer)

1 - Communication skills: facilitator and or learner

Facilitator challenge

• Become expert in digital media, so your communication does not get hindered for optimal learning/teaching

• Provide transparent, clear guidance throughout the course

• Motivate: keeping learners motivated in a new, as chaotic perceived learning/teaching setting.

• Learn to structure chaos ad hoc

Learner challenges

• Self-image: daring to speak up, using second language to express thoughts

• Keep being motivated no matter what tech challenges: computer use, social media use, mobile use…

• Self-direct learning

2 - Networking skills

• Build trust• Show respect• Dare to ask help• Offer to collaborate• Reach out and connect … go for the long run

3 - Self-Directed Learning skills

4 - Digital skillsNew technologies, new pedagogies

Mobile devices, mobility, social media, MOOCs…

Learner diversityProfessional complexity

5 – Information managing skills

This transcends MOOC roles. Networks/collaborations help

Collaboratively written pointers provided by the MobiMOOC participants• Use the course to your advantage! You know where you want to go, ask relevant

help.• Select between the abundance of resources. • Plan which type of participant you want to be (lurker, intermediate, active)• Develop a mental filter: you do not need to reply to everyone, skim discussions

and choose to reply on what is of interest to you.• Get to the point: be short (max 250 words) and respectful in your

discussions/questions/answers. This will save time for everyone.• Use descriptive titles in your discussion threads: this allows people to

immediately anticipate where you are going with your message.• Connect with participants working on the same topic interest.• Check your e-mail digest in the google group section 'edit my membership'.• Pace yourself to keep motivated. • Dare to take time off.• The most important idea behind self-regulated learning is: Make the course Work

for YOU!

e.g. Learner tips for coping with MOOC info abundance

Content is everywhere: an expert finds it. Institutes want to attract potential experts => big pool, small top.

Focus on generic skills and competencies • Social skills• Knowledge skills• Digital skills• Networking skills• Expert skills• …

• Critical finding (search the web)• Critical thinking (screen the web)

Don’t get carried away with the HypeWhen to start a MOOC?

Build upon a MOOC need (= part of adult learning theory – Andragogy/Self-Directed Learning).

The reason the first Artificial Intelligence MOOC got so much attention was … because people were interested.• You have expertise no one else has• Updating experts with latest insights (peer

knowledge exchange)• Creating a community around a topic

What I did not talk about…You can read about

Low cost eBook (less than 4 dollars) I just finished: MOOC YourSelfhttp://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CE8VHVC

A digital book, for those not having a Kindle,Use a free Kindle tool for computers, smartphones…:http://ignatiawebs.blogspot.be/2013/04/free-kindle-apps-for-reading-ebooks-for.html

Setting up a MOOC, knowing what is important for organizing a MOOC, facilitator challenges, getting international participants involved…

Be strong, help others excel … get better, use MOOCs

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Questions? Yes, here & now !

E-mail: ingedewaard (at) gmail.com

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