ielts and beyond

© University of Reading 2011 www.reading.ac.uk/isli

International Study and Language Institute

The future is connected: delivering a MOOC

Liz Wilding and Steve Thomas


Our Background

• ISLI – Academic English – pre / during study

• Print publishing background (e.g Garnet)

• Developing online portfolio

• MOOC exciting new development

• Curious to explore and learn ‘by doing’


MOOC: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing in

English for Academic Study

• FutureLearn

• 5 Weeks

• Aimed at IELTS 4.5 – 5.0 (low pre-sessional level)

• A taster course for potential university students


Connectedness

FutureLearn:

“our aim is to connect learners

from all over the globe with high

quality educators, and with each

other. We believe learning should

be an enjoyable, social

experience, with plenty of

opportunities to discuss what

you’ve studied, in order to make

fresh discoveries and form new

ideas.”

Content

Peers Educators


Connecting to content

• A real life story – Xiao’s journey

• Principles of academic writing

• Grammar for academic writing

• Videos, animations, text, discussions, quizzes

• Choose the title – write the draft

• Finished product

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/english-for-study/steps/7744/progress


Connecting to the educator


Connecting to peers


Peer review

2362 active learners

1120 drafts submitted

Submit essay draft

Review an essay

Receive a review

Review an essay

Receive a review


Peer review

“Thanks Monica Parra and Chloe Cao for their

feedbacks. These are very useful and I will try to make

my essay better following them.”

“OH THANK YOU: Lin Li ; Zane Li and Oktarina. I'm so

pleased for your comments. All the best for you!!!”

“I am looking for a more useful feedback.”

“My feedback was so contradictory that I am not sure

what changes should I actually make ,and if I should

make any change at all.”


Did the students connect?

Yes, with some limitations:

• Good engagement with the content

• Some dissatisfaction at limited educator feedback

• Limited engagement with each other

“It's an excellent, quite interactive course, particularly

valuable for international students…”

I really liked the materials, but I'm not satisfied with the

feedback received from our mentors.


Factors affecting engagement

• Confidence

• Prior experience

• Motivation

(Milligan, C., Littlejohn, A. & Margaryan, A. (2013)


Prior experience

•Yes – 39.3%

•No – 60.7%

Have you taken a course

delivered mostly or fully online before?

•Yes – 23.3%

•No – 76.7%

Have you taken an academic

writing course before?


Motivation

• Interact with other people – 25%

• Prepare for further studies – 56%

• Learn new things – 71%

What do you hope to get out of this course?

• Discussing things online with other learners = least popular

• Watching videos = most popular

How would you like to

learn?


Learning from the experience

• Research

• A second run

– October 2014

• SPOC


Bibliography

Bayne, S and Ross, J. (2014) The pedagogy of the Massive Open

Online Course: the UK view . Available at:

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/elt/HEA_Edinburgh_

MOOC_WEB_030314_1136.pdf.

Liyanagunawardena, T., Williams, S. and Adams, A. (2013) The

impact and reach of MOOCs: a developing countries’ perspective.

eLearning Papers (33). Available at:

http://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/article/The-Impact-and-

Reach-of-MOOCs:-A-Developing-Countries%E2%80%99-

Perspective?

Milligan, C., Littlejohn, A. & Margaryan, A. (2013) Patterns of

Engagement in Connectivist MOOCs. Journal of Online Learning

and Teaching. 9 (2). Available at:

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol9no2/milligan_0613.htm

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/elt/HEA_Edinburgh_MOOC_WEB_030314_1136.pdf

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/elt/HEA_Edinburgh_MOOC_WEB_030314_1136.pdf

http://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/article/The-Impact-and-Reach-of-MOOCs:-A-Developing-Countries%E2%80%99-Perspective






















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