moocs for foreign language learning:
DESCRIPTION
INTED 2014 M. PERIFANOU & A. ECONOMIDES The paper will first present the requirements for a successful online Language Learning course and then it will continue with the exploration of the use of MOOCs in Language Education. Next an evaluation of the platforms and the instructional design used so far for Massive Open Online Language Learning Courses will follow. Finally, after the presentation of possible concerns and recommendations regarding the Language Learning MOOCs, there will be a discussion that aims to draw the first conclusions of this research and share some future research plans.TRANSCRIPT
MOOCS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING: AN EFFORT TOEXPLORE AND EVALUATE THE FIRST PRACTICES
ANASTASIOS A. ECONOMIDES Interdepartmental Progr. of Postgraduate
Studies in Information Systems,University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, GREECE
MARIA A. PERIFANOUDepartment of Italian Studies,National & Kapodistrian UniversIty of Athens, GREECE
What is a MOOC?
“A MOOC is a course of study made available over the Internet usually without charge to a very large number of people: anyone who decides to take a MOOC simply logs on to the website and signs up” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2014)
2010
2012
2013
2011
MOOC’s rising
2.8 million
students in March
2013
2014
Need for MOOLCs
Language competencies & intercultural skills : key qualifications for living and working in 21st
century
Need for MOOCs related to language education
Web 2.0 participatory, immediate, authentic, engages community
a promising language learning environment
Research questions
How to design an efficient Language Learning Environment for MOOLCs?
Are there many MOOLC initiatives that could provide a promising Massive Open Interactive Language Learning Environment (MOILLE)?
Research Methodology: STAGES
a) Exploration of current MOOLC initiatives
b) Classification of the MOOLC initiatives according to concrete criteria
c) Evaluation of most representative MOOLC initiatives using the MOILLE framework
d) Analysis of the results & conclusions
Exploration of current MOOLC initiatives
1st Stage
Classification of the MOOLC initiatives according to concrete criteria
2nd Stage
University/Entity Number of Free / Paid language
Courses Language Certification/ Badges/Official credits Fixed time session cMOOC / xMOOC
MOILLE FRAMEWORK- Massive Open Interactive Language Learning Environment
CONTENT: Authentic educational resources; Use of multimedia/tech; Variety of activities that promote all basic language skills & support cultural awareness.
PEDAGOGY: Communication (peer-peer, student-teacher, open class community); Collaboration (CL) (group projects, forums etc.); Collective intelligence; Autonomy (Autonomous/Self-paced/SL Learning/Reflection); Engagement-Motivation; Playful/Game based learning; Number of instructors.
ASSESSMENT: On going Assessment/ Scaffolding (peer-peer, student-teacher, open, automated) Final Assessment; Evidence-Based improvement (data mining, Analytics); Feedback (comments, reviews).
COMMUNITY: Social Community building as Massive & Open (Social Media – third part tools integration & other tech tools).
TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Max number of participants, Platform’s performance, Security, Usability).
FINANCIAL ISSUES: Profit. Charges for Course or Certification/ Accreditation.
Evaluation of most representative MOOLC initiatives using the MOILLE framework3nd Stage
Analysis of Results & Conclusions
4th Stage
Evaluation 16 MOOCs – MOILLEContent
6 MOOLC initiatives offer authentic educational resources in a high level
11 use multimedia tools 3 offer a variety of activities that
promote the basic language skills & support cultural awareness
Evaluation 16 MOOCs – MOILLEPedagogy
5 MOOLC initiatives support the various types of communication (peer-peer, student-teacher, open class community) in a high level
1 promote collaboration, (group projects, forums etc.) or collective intelligence in a high degree
15 support very much the autonomous, self-paced & self-regulated learning, learner’s reflection
6 support learners’ engagement and motivation None of them offers game based activities of
high degree 2 provide many instructors for a course
Evaluation 16 MOOCs – MOILLEAssessment
5 MOOLC initiatives provide various types of assessment (peer-peer, student-teacher, open, automated)
7 provide an official final assessment, 4 show learners’ performance evolution
(data mining, analytics) 6 give the possibility to participants to
provide feedback of various types (comments, reviews)
Evaluation 16 MOOCs – MOILLECommunity building
5 MOOLC initiatives offer a big variety of social media tools or other technologies in order to build a Social Language Learning Community
Evaluation 16 MOOCs – MOILLETechnical Infrastructure
12 MOOLC initiatives can accept a massive number of participants
offer usability have good technical performance provide high security
Evaluation 16 MOOCs – MOILLEFinancial issues
none of the explored MOOLC initiatives require any high charges
except for: certification or accreditation
Conclusions
“Are there many MOOLC initiatives that could provide a promising Massive Open Interactive Language Learning Environment (MOILLE)”? NO
Good examples: SpanishMOOC http://spanishmooc.com Mixxer MOOC http://
www.languageexchanges.org/node/106803
POSITIVE aspects
Many MOOLCsare still free have generally good infrastructure
offer certification
ISSUES
Pedagogical aspect of MOOLCs (no highly interactive, no FL community, no building language skills collectively)
Time cost for educators Big dropout rate
Suggestions
Create more connectivist MOOLCs
Create highly interactive Language Learning Environments
Keep high students’ degree of motivation & self-direction
RESOURSES (Photo/diagram)
o http://elearninginfographics.com/european-moocs-infographic/#sthash.wCL5G0XD.qjtu
o http://pretoria.uoc.es/wpmu/ambitp/2013/05/22/moocs-state-of-the-art
o http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/o http://www.edutopia.orgo http://open-it-lab.com/open-content/o http://edutechdebate.org/oer-and-digital-divid
e/do-open-educational-resources-actually-increase-the-digital-divide/