How do we sustain participation in open online courses

First, sustaining participation is a design question. Thought has to be given to this question. You have, at least to consider the do-nothing option. This question was asked in etMooc over here (maybe) in a Google+ community. I replied: Tell me about it, and I am an experienced MOOCer & online course runner of things. … Continue reading How do we sustain participation in open online courses

The reification of Learning Design

This is a reflection for the OLDS-MOOC on the underpinning principles that I apply when designing and developing educational interventions at various scales. When IMS LD was developed it aimed to address what were seen as limitations in SCORM (or here) and IEEE LOM. Learning Design (LD) as a learning technology software specification was intended … Continue reading The reification of Learning Design

Launch of the OLDS MOOC

Well things didn't look promising at 1600. Cloudworks database error, and YouTube livestream not streaming. The QT feed from the OU worked. But the uni-directional presentation with no back channel or discussion forum (well there is Twitter!) made it a bit well... lacking? Twitter was sort of engaged but mostly with the tech problems for … Continue reading Launch of the OLDS MOOC

re Furedi: The Unhappiness Principle

This is a version of a letter that I wrote to the editor of the THE, which they did not publish, further to Frank Furedi's rant against learning outcomes. I am the course leader for Oxford Brookes University's Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching in Higher Education. We were very pleased to see that when Professor Furedi … Continue reading re Furedi: The Unhappiness Principle

Setting up for the OLDS MOOC

I am familiarising myself with the OLDS MOOC. It will be very interesting to see if Cloudworks works as a learning platform. I am going to see if I can consume this blog into a cloudscape. I do not intend to use a different blogging platform for the course. In fact I wonder why they … Continue reading Setting up for the OLDS MOOC

x v c: falsifiability or hybrid learning in, through and about MOOCs

[This is my abstract for OER13] Two thousand and twelve was the year of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) (Creelman 2012). The MOOC has become a complex phenomenon leaving aspiring designers and conveners with many questions and decisions to make. Speaking loosely, observers notice two broad categories of MOOC. cMOOCs are the earlier form, … Continue reading x v c: falsifiability or hybrid learning in, through and about MOOCs

The limits of navigation: how far does the online go?

Reflections on New Lecturers Courses at Oxford Brookes Among the practices, which have emerged through the New Lecturers Programme in 2011-12, there are three that challenge the limits to online learning: massive open on-line courses (moocs), virtual conferences as a means of assessment, and distributed collaboration as a means of working in learning sets. While … Continue reading The limits of navigation: how far does the online go?

Blog conversation on FSLT12

The feeds are starting to come in to the FSLT12 blog aggregator. And it is already a rich source of information and potential conversation. Questions are being asked about what makes a good teacher, and what makes a bad one! Jenny Mackness addresses the issue of blog aggregation generally in a MOOC. We are struggling … Continue reading Blog conversation on FSLT12

Learning objectives or not?

Jo Badge pointed me to a post by Stuart (no other id given), "Learning objectives or not?", which started with this intentionally provocative statement, "A good teacher states clear Learning Objectives. The best don't. Discuss." I commented on the blog and repost my comment here. My perspective is from higher education. Courses are required to … Continue reading Learning objectives or not?

MOOCs and chaos

Dave Cormier has written a thoughtful critique from a cynefin perspective of massive open online courses (moocs) as an approach to learning the "basics". I reduce his argument almost to absurdity, but it is extremely relevant to a massive open online course that I, Jenny Mackness and Marion Waite are developing. Our mooc is called … Continue reading MOOCs and chaos