If you work in education or you’re just interested in education you’ve probably been following the developments of MOOCs – Massively Open Online Courses.
Debate around the MOOCs tends to be polarised. I’m always interested in anything in education that creates such strong emotional responses regardless of which side of the fence you tend to sit on (bilingual education is another good example).
I follow Wired magazine online as they often report on interesting things that are happening regarding the intersection of technology, education, and design – which is really where I see myself working as well.
The other day, they posted an interesting article about Anant Agarwal, one of the founding fathers of online university education. Agarwal is an MIT computer science professor and the CEO of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based non-profit, edX.
The MIT edX is it’s own thing, but they also supply their platform as open source code which is being used by a lot of other universities and organisations around the globe.
Agarwal is aware of the criticisms around MOOCs. Some of these criticisms include, for example:
- How effective is computer mediated versus classroom teaching?
- Why do MOOCs suffer from low completion rates?
- How do you develop a sustainable business model around “free” content?
In any case, Agarwal is convinced that we are on the cusp of what he’s calling MOOC 2.0.
In simple terms, what we’ve been working with in terms of online learning is essentially a first generation product. What we’re moving into will be the next iteration of open online learning. Imagine if Steve Jobs had given up on version 1 of the iPhone because it had a clunky operating system or a limited set of features that didn’t work as well as he’d envisaged.
In the closing words of the article: “To judge a breakthrough technology by only its earliest flaws is to ignore all the good it might do when given the time and the trust to do it.”
So welcome to MOOC 2.0…!
This got me thinking about our own mini MOOC – which is more of a “mostly open online course” – and where I think the future of MOOCs and online learning needs to go.
Which is the following:
- Embed foundational literacy, numeracy, and learning-to-learn skills into all MOOCs and other forms of online learning.
Since 2007 in New Zealand, we’ve been developing and working with a specific set of skills and practises around how vocational and trades tutors can embed literacy and numeracy into their training.
I think that this same model can be applied to online learning of all kinds. My hypothesis is something like this:
- We will see an increase in learner uptake of content knowledge as well as course retention and completion if we embed foundational literacy, numeracy, and learning-to-learn skills into online content-based courses at the level of the learners.
My comments here apply to academic courses as well as more practically-based trades and vocational training.
The embedded approach works great with carpenters and hairdressers, but let’s try it with academics as well.
- Why should learners in an academic pathway struggle with their work just because the professors assume they come to the learning with a pre-existing set of foundational skills?
We know these learners usually don’t have these skills, but often we get bogged down in not wanting to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. It’s time to get over that and teach people what they need to know in order to learn what they need to know.
And we have a good model in place that suggests we can do both at the same time. This means it’s efficient and a value for money investment.
I think that the embedding model, which involves an explicit focus on the underpinning literacy and numeracy skills and content that learners need in the contexts that they are learning, could be the key to unlocking huge growth in online education.
I’m not just talking about learners taking courses on learning how to learn. What I’m talking about here is key principles and practices from the world of embedded literacy and numeracy directly applied to the design of all kinds of content-based learning, and in particular via online media of every kind.
By building and developing foundation level skills in a multitude of contexts and for the wides range of content we would be fostering life long learning both online and offline.
What would this look like in practice? I’m glad you asked… that’s what I want to explore moving forward. And that’s what I think we could export to a global market.
Any thoughts…? Hit that comment button…
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