moocs and the death of teaching
DESCRIPTION
MOOCs and the Death of Teaching. What is a MOOC?. http://youtu.be/KqQNvmQH_YM. George Siemens. George Siemens of Athabaska University in Alberta, originated Connectivism, a theory which asserts that learning has to do with the relationship between work experience, learning and knowledge - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
MOOCs and the Death of Teaching
What is a MOOC?
http://youtu.be/KqQNvmQH_YM
George Siemens
George Siemens of Athabaska University in Alberta, originated Connectivism, a theory which asserts that learning has to do with the relationship between work experience, learning and knowledge
He & some colleagues started an early MOOC in 2008
Who Are the MOOCs?
Biggest MOOCs: Coursera: founded at Stanford edX: founded by MIT & Harvard Udacity: founded by Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford
computer science professor
In 1967, William Baumol proposed that service economies should stagnate, as growth in services productivity is slow: he gave the example of a Mozart string quartet
Yet in the 90s, as productivity in services grew because of the use of technology, employment skyrocketed.
Except in education, where productivity growth has been negative: costs (pay) rose, while output (students per teacher) fell. Technology has been stagnant for 150 years – lectures & blackboards.
Baumol's Cost Disease
Curing Baumol: MOOCs
MOOCs can enable a single teacher to reach thousands of students.
Enrollments vary from thousands to over 300,000 per course.
That could massively increase productivity of (remaining) teachers if you can certify student learning.
How Do Teachers Offer That MOOCs Cannot?
Teachers can help students with difficult concepts.
Teachers can help students learn how to solve problems.
Teachers can evaluate written work.
Teachers can help students apply classroom learning to the real world.
Teachers can do high-quality assessment, feedback, & individual attention – disseminating information will be the job of technology.
What can you do?
1. Get involved in online education
2. Improve your assessment & feedback skills
3. Think about “flipping” a class – using textbook & online video for information; using class time for individual attention & assessment
Major References
Barry Bosworth, 2005. Productivity in Education & the Growing Gap with Service Industries. Published in M. Devlin, et al, ed: The Internet and the University. Accessed at net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ffpiu044.pdf
Kyle Peck, Aug 16, 2013. The Evolving Role of “Teacher” in a MOOCs and Badges World. http://www.evolllution.com/opinions/role-teacher-moocs-badges-world/