the mooc project
TRANSCRIPT
Ramone Al Bishawi, KTP Associate, North Alliance
Dr Rachel Shanks,University of Aberdeen
Technology Strategy Board
North Alliance
University of Aberdeen
Critical Friends Group
North of Scotland’s geography.
-travel time, costs, access to CPD in rural and remote locations
Social isolation in rural & remote locations
The increasing importance of IT literacy
Multi-level social barriers to involvement;
Technological barriers to access
Blended learning was considered optimum method of delivering CPD
Virtual barriers – poor internet access, firewalls, lack of modern technology
Qualities of a good online resource – ease of access (no multiple logins), highly interactive, mix of delivery methods.
Self paced
Open
Massive
Choice to participate
Group approach
Ran over six weeks and attracted around 50-60 people
Contained keynote speeches
Included weekly tasks for participants to complete
Used innovative technologies http://minimooc.wikispaces.com/Welcome
18 people out of 50
Why people participated....
Participants didn’t find the technology too difficult
100% said they learnt something!!!
& 87% think these technologies can be used in a CL&D setting
14%
29%
40%
57%
43%
33%
7%
21%
20%
21%
7%
7%
0% 20% 40% 60%
Disqus (14)
Google Groups (14)
Blogs (15)
Difficult
Slightly difficult
Not too difficult
Easy to use
75%
19%
25%
19%
56%
42%
6%
13%
17%
0%
13%
17%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
You Tube(16)
Wikispaces (16)
Photo sharing
applications e.g Flickr
(12)
Difficult
Slightly difficult
Not too difficult
Easy to use
Based on 15 responses
out of 18
87%
13%
Do you feel the choice of
technology suited the content?
Yes No
“I’m not totally lost in the technology. Accessing the learning at any time of the day was very useful. However, participating in
the discussions is more difficult with delays in time”
“Learned loads about technology”
“The variety of projects made it particularly interesting. It’s always so useful to hear what other people are doing and this
was so much more engaging than reading case studies”
“The video sessions could be used as a training tool. Google hangout could be used to support groups further afield – i.efor when the cost of regular travel could be prohibitive to a
project”
“These technologies can be used to bring people together when physically doing so might not be possible”
“It sort of kills two birds with one stone...we are learning about how to be more comfortable with technology...as well as
learning about the course topic”
Weekly tasks were designed in a way that exposed learners to different technologies in addition to different interpretations of empowerment
Used learning technologies that can be applied by participants in own course design
