...Information and Education Technology, Vol. 5, No. 6, June 2015 Towards a Model of Engaging Online Students: Lessons from MOOCs and Four Policy Documents Khe Foon Hew Abstract—The paper describes a model of engaging students in fully online or blended learning environments. To do this, I first discuss the notion of student engagement and how it relates to the Self-Determination Theory of motivation. Next, I reviewed a number of online learning policy guidelines from four professional councils around the world in order to elicit specific guidelines related to the design of online learning courses, and student engagement. Following that, I analyzed two most highly-rated MOOCs. I analyzed the structural features of the two MOOCs and the comments of both participants who completed the courses, and who partially completed or dropped out. Altogether, comments from 839 participants were examined. Finally, using these empirical data and the policy guidelines from the four professional organizations, I outline a rudimentary model of engaging students in online learning courses, based on six major instructional design elements. Index Terms—Online learning, blended learning, massive open online learning, MOOCs, e-learning, instructional design, engagement, motivation, self-determination theory. I. INTRODUCTION Online learning for both students and teachers has become one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology [1]. Essentially, the main purpose of online learning is...
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...provision of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is becoming a new disruptive innovation that will radically change the scene of higher education. This report will analyse the external environment for MOOC provider Udacity, evaluate their competitive strategy and then discuss the future outlook for them and the industry. | Contents Introduction 2 The External Environment 2 Udacity’s competitive strategy 4 The future of the industry and how Udacity can sustain competitive advantage 6 References 7 Appendix 1 – PEST Analysis Table 11 Appendix 2 – PEST Analysis Graph 12 Appendix 3 – Product Life Cycle 13 Appendix 4 – MOOC Industry Life Cycle 14 Appendix 5 – Strategic Groups 1 15 Appendix 6 – Strategic Groups 2 16 Appendix 7 – Porter’s Five Forces (Current) 17 Appendix 8 – Porter’s Five Forces (Future) 18 Appendix 9 – SWOT Analysis 19 Appendix 10 – New Strategies 20 Appendix 11 – Commonly Required Skills and Resources 21 Introduction Udacity is a massive open online course (MOOC) provider based in Silicon Valley, offering career-focused education. They are partnered with tech-giants Google and Facebook and their mission is to “bring accessible, affordable, engaging, and highly effective higher education to the world” (Udacity, 2015). The External Environment Udacity’s macro environment (appendix 1) shows increasing numbers of mature and part-time learners are looking for alternatives to traditional education (Morris, 2013). They require...
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...recent years. In order to fully understand the potential of eLearning, one also has to take a look at the different tools being used and the emerging trends which will shape the future of both teaching and learning. In particular, this paper will take a look at the two eLearning trends MOOCs and educational games. Only after becoming familiar with these technologies and approaches can we explore the issue of whether ‘traditional’ teaching will become obsolete in the face of eLearning in the years to come. CBT and MOOCs Computer Based Trainig (short: CBT) is the most well-known eLearning approach and has been around for more than 20 years. It refers to offline training with media like CD-ROMs or DVDs as well as Web Based Training (WBT) which requires the user to be connected to the internet in order to download eLearning content. Computer Based Training includes all kinds of virtual learning approaches, for example audio-based courses (podcasts), educational games or learning communities. Especially the latter ones are promising training options with the potential of becoming the teaching methods of the 21st century. MOOCs stands for Massive Open Online Courses, which describes free online courses and lectures with a large number of participants. They provide a great opportunity for educational institutions, enabling them to reach people of all...
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...* Massive Open Online Courses – Is school out forever? The way we learn is changing rapidly. Just 15 years ago, an intellectually curious student was left alone with limited studying options. He could have asked his professors, his classmates or grab a book. Today, we live in a digital world where an internet connection gives you access to a staggering amount of information, even online learning is possible. It is not just possible; the buzzword MOOC indicates that this “learning” is about to be taken to a whole new level. Will MOOCs change the way approach higher education? Firstly, what is a MOOC? This acronym is defined in various ways; let’s just focus on the following one. According to the Macmillan English Dictionary a MOOC is a “massive open online course: a course of study offered over the Internet which is free and has a very large number of participants” (cf. Macmillan, 2013). Within the past 2 years, several open learning platforms have been set up, some founded by institutions such as Harvard University to establish a non-profit MOOC platform like EdX. Others, for example Coursera, are created by investors who are trying to capitalize on this innovation with for-profit companies (cf. Coursera, 2013). Signing up for a MOOC is done in less than 5 minutes, all it takes is a valid email address, a password and everyone with an Internet connection can do so. However, looking at MOOC completion rates, it shows that “although thousands enroll for courses, a very small...
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...October 2013 Education Has a New Face A revolution in education caused by the expansion of what is called Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, has brought change to higher education. MOOCs are online courses that are provided by some of the world’s prestigious universities, such as Stanford and Harvard, and that offer high quality learning at no cost. MOOCs classes are available for anyone around the globe with an access to the internet and a smart phone, tablet, or a computer. This phenomenon has spread in the virtual world and found success, and like any new concept, it will have side effects in which will be positive, such as spreading education, and negative, such as posing a threat to other education institutes. Internet revolution is the major cause of the expansion of the MOOCs. Tim Todd, education editor at the Financial Review, stated that “The internet revolution has moved to education as top universities worldwide rush to put free courses online, setting up so-called massive open online courses or MOOCs.” The internet is the median that is facilitating the access to MOOCs by students that are located anywhere on the planet. The barriers of time zone, geographical distant, and financial status have been reduced in the way of education. The way MOOCs are presented and accessed caused thousands of students worldwide to sign up and join the education train. Some of the top universities in the US realized the potential power of online education so they cooperated...
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...MOOCs as the Remedy for Higher Education Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently developed into a popular topic of discussion in higher education forum. Undeniably there are a lot of problems existing in current mode of traditional higher education such as affordability, quality and flexibility. This paper will argue that MOOCs serve as a remedy to address the problems of higher education. 1) MOOCs are made to be affordable to every student who would like to learn, resolving the affordability of higher education; 2) MOOCs initiated interactive classes through various technological applications, to enhance the quality of class learning; 3) MOOCs allow for flexibility to cater to people with different needs or difficulties. Overall, despite some of the limitations, MOOCs could still serve as a remedy to resolve some problems with current higher education but they are certainly not a replacement of traditional higher education. The technology boom has led to a new trend in higher education – MOOC mania. A Massive Open Online Course, by definition of Tamar Lewin in his “Universities Abroad Join Partnerships on the Web”, is an online course for large-scale interactive participation and open access via the web. Besides traditional course materials, MOOCs offer interactive forums that build a learning community that involves both teachers and students (Lewin). MOOCs are widely recognized by its interactive and convenient online learning platforms, and its...
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...New Phenomenon of Online Education The era of the Internet created more than supportive environment for massive open online courses (MOOCs). They are earning praise for bringing outstanding college teaching to vast number of students who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it, including those in remote places and those in the middle of their careers. The online classes are also being promoted as a way to bolster the quality and productivity of teaching in general. If we consider this question from perspective of expenses then MOOCs could considerably save costs for education since average prices to get a bachelor’s degree are quite high in different countries. Ukraine is not an exception despite the fact that mostly high education is free here. And many people worry that even as the cost of higher education has risen, its quality has fallen. Dropout rates are not that high, but many graduates don’t show much of evidence that college improved their critical-thinking skills. In Ukrainian IT sector usually it is not enough to graduate from a University with Master Degree in Computer Science to get a job. As usual such specialists need additional education or courses in order to extent their knowledge to meet the minimal requirements for junior software engineer. Internship could also be a case here. Very often MOOC could be a simple solution to get lacking knowledge. Naturally there are people who have different opinions about MOOC phenomenon - proponents of MOOCs say the efficiency...
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...Response to Friedman It would seem academia's view of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is split. There are some that would like to believe MOOCs are the next revolution in education. One such person is Thomas Friedman, an author and columnist for the New York Times. Friedman has high expectations of MOOCs and states, "I can see a day soon where you'll create your own college degree by taking the best online courses from the best professors from around the world."1 On the other hand Karen Head, an assistant professor for Georgia Institute of Technology, initially wanted nothing to do with them. She stated, "I wondered how anyone could possibly teach writing in a massive open online course--a question that many of my colleagues are still asking."3 Friedman posits that innovation will come because of demand from the market, parents, students and even the federal government.2 Karen is part of that innovation not only as a professor but as a planner in the program. Her experience in preparing the MOOC for Georgia Tech will certainly challenge Friedman's idea of cheap. Perhaps if Friedman expanded on the idea of initial cost vs. maintenance cost of a MOOC it wouldn't appear cheap in the short term. In this case of start-up costs for a university it would have to be seen as an investment. In the long term gains would be seen, provided their program is a successful one. In the end Friedman holds on to his idea of a revolutionary new way to educate the world...
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...MOOC：Revolution in education While open courseware and large, distance learning programs have been around for over a decade, 2011-2012 saw the rapid launch of a new phenomenon—the “massive open online course” or MOOC, which has garnered the attention of lots of folks, from VC investors to big name universities. Lots of people are talking about how the new technology is going to change the education dramatically. And this article is aimed to give a quick review and reflection upon this massive trend. 1. What is it? As its name suggests, massive open online course (MOOC) is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web . In addition to traditional course materials such as videos, readings and problem sets, MOOCs provide interactive various ways that help the students and instructors more easily engaged in an active learning experience. The instructors relied on computer-graded quizzes, exercises, and examinations to assess participants, eliminating the need for an army of teaching assistants and endless hours of manual grading. A thriving discussion forum and virtual study groups arose around the content, allowing students from around the world to ask and answer questions, post links to related resources, and submit new ideas. Students even added new, interactive exercises and platforms to the course and volunteers translated video dialogue and course materials into different languages. 2. Why it matters? Education is economically important...
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...and completion have been critical problems for all postsecondary programs and especially acute for programs delivered by online education (Abel, 2005; Bowen, Kurzweil, Tobin, & Pichler, 2005; Newman, Couturier, & Scurry, 2004). The research conducted by The Corporate University Xchange (2000) indicated that retaining learners is one of the difficult challenges of online learning programs. Indeed, 70 percent of adult learners enrolled in a corporate online program were reported not to complete the course (Meister, 2002) and it also was found by Carr (2000) that the dropout rates for online university courses 10% to 20% higher than traditional college classroom courses. As "The costs of development, delivery, and assessment, as well...
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...before, students need online courses and degree programs that are effective, affordable, and grounded in public values. Proponents of postsecondary online education were buoyed by a 2009 meta-analysis sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education suggesting that student learning outcomes in online courses are superior to those in traditional face-to-face courses. online learning is a promising means to increase access and improve student progression through college, the Department of Education report does not provide evidence that fully online college courses produce superior learning outcomes. Research shows that it is possible to...
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...universities, and community colleges—are flirting with the idea of MOOCS, massive open online courses, where tens of thousands of students can take the same class simultaneously. Is this the future of college? Nathan Heller wrote about the phenomenon in the May 20, 2013 issue of The New Yorker in "Laptop U." I recommend you find a copy or subscribe online for the full article, but I'll share with you here what I gleaned as the pros and cons of MOOCS from Heller's article. What Is a MOOC? The short answer is that a MOOC is an online video of a college lecture. The M stands for massive because there is no limit to the number of students who can enroll from anywhere in the world. Anant Agarwal is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, and president of edX, a non-profit MOOC company owned jointly MIT andHarvard. In 2011, he launched a forerunner called MITx (Open Courseware), hoping to get 10 times the usual number of classroom students in his spring-semester circuits-and-electronics course, about 1,500. In the first few hours of posting the course, he told Heller, he had 10,000 students sign up from all over the world. The ultimate enrollment was 150,000. Massive. The Pros MOOCs are controversial. Some say they are the future of higher education. Others see them as the eventual downfall of it. Here are the pros Heller found in his research. MOOCS: 1. Are free. Right now, most MOOCs are free or nearly free, a definite plus for the student. This is...
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...Future models of higher education Analysing innovative models for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka An Economist Intelligence Unit report produced for the British Council January 2015 Commissioned by and in co-operation with www.eiu.com Trisha Suresh - British Council report New University models Cover.indd 1 1/5/2015 4:21:54 PM Trisha Suresh - British Council report New University models Cover.indd 2 1/5/2015 4:21:54 PM The changing university: In numbers 4.03 3.54 12.15 2.47 5.45 14.2 1.41 17.40 3.58 4.19 9.18 0.91 21.78 6.83 0.69 2010 27.81 25.01 16.07 11.49 2020 36.75 11.93 11.77 2030 39.70 11.65 Sub Saharan Africa South and West Asia Source: "Higher Education in 2035: The ongoing massification", by Angel Calderon, RMIT University North America and Western Europe Central and Eastern Europe East Asia and the Pacific Central Asia Latin America and the Caribbean Arab States Tertiary enrolment: Past and future Global enrolment in tertiary education has increased dramatically in the last few decades. In 2000, there were 99.4m students enrolled in higher education institutions. In 2030, research expects this number to rise to 414.2m. South Asia's proportion of global enrolment has been rapid: the region constituted only 12.15% of global enrolment in 2000, but this is expected to grow to over 20% in 2030. Growing economies and youthful population are driving continued growth in the region's appetite for higher education. Current demand outstripping...
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...Response to Friedman It would seem academia's view of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is split. There are some that would like to believe MOOCs are the next revolution in education. One such person is Thomas Friedman, an author and columnist for the New York Times. Friedman has high expectations of MOOCs and states, "I can see a day soon where you'll create your own college degree by taking the best online courses from the best professors from around the world."1 On the other hand Karen Head, an assistant professor for Georgia Institute of Technology, initially wanted nothing to do with them. She stated, "I wondered how anyone could possibly teach writing in a massive open online course--a question that many of my colleagues are still asking."3 Friedman posits that innovation will come because of demand from the market, parents, students and even the federal government.2 Karen is part of that innovation not only as a professor but as a planner in the program. Her experience in preparing the MOOC for Georgia Tech will certainly challenge Friedman's idea of cheap. Perhaps if Friedman expanded on the idea of initial cost vs. maintenance cost of a MOOC it wouldn't appear cheap in the short term. In this case of start-up costs for a university it would have to be seen as an investment. In the long term gains would be seen, provided their program is a successful one. In the end Friedman holds on to his idea of a revolutionary new way to educate the world. For Karen...
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...be multifaceted; what good can their research do if they cannot communicate their ideas adequately? The MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is quickly becoming a popular alternative to conventional schooling (MOOCNewsAndReviews). As this transformation occurs, MOOCs’ professors are becoming more akin to performers. With the growth of MOOCs, the shift in a professor’s duties and required skills will rapidly evolve. Professors have traditionally been the high ranking academics at universities. Professors act partially as instructors who are responsible for educating undergraduate...
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