29 Dec 2020
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Week 11: The Open Classroom
The concept of openness behind c- and x-MOOCs (Rodriguez, 2013)
• Massive open online courses (MOOCs) different from established models of online education in
its scale and openness – not circumscribed by space constraints or resource availability
o Only requirement is broadband internet connection
• c-MOOCs: based on a philosophy of connectivism and social networking (peer-to-peer)
o Immersed in discourse of openness – put ideas forward so others can see and engage;
learners help other learners by openly exposed both their ideas and their challenges
o Distributed connectivist model – course contents form cluster of resources within topic
o Fundamental characteristics: autonomy, diversity, openness, connectedness, interactivity
o Readings and presentations freely available online supplemented with materials and
presentations contributed by facilitator and invited experts, with learners also sharing
o Legitimate peripheral participation: permits individuals to be immersed in community
of practice at whatever pace they feel comfortable
▪ Provides access to large numbers of learners who might otherwise be excluded
for reasons like time, geographic location, formal prerequisites, finances
• x-MOOCs: cognitive-behaviourist approach like offered by elite US institutions (tutor-centric)
o EdX, Coursera, udacity – more traditional
o Shown impressive technology development, rapid course production, huge list of high
standard partners, potentially disruptive and interesting certification alternatives
o Concept of openness more restrictive than c-MOOCs – materials made available under
custom copyright license
o Teaching methods by most based on behaviourist pedagogy, relying primarily on
information transmission, computer marked assignments, peer assessment
o Follow structure of existing education practices – primary innovation is scaling
What we’re learning from online education (Daphne Koller)
• Goal of Coursera to take best courses from best instructors at best universities to provide to
people for free
• Different because it follows normal course outline
o Starting date with assignments for grades and certificate at end
o Some use certificates for job, others give to university for credit
• Can be broken down into modular units that students navigate through
o Preparatory materials if needed, enrichment topics on top of basics if interested
• Break away from one-size-fits-all structure of traditional learning
• Every student needs to engage with material
o Check-in retrieval questions throughout videos that offer explanations after, need to be
correct to move forward
o Compared to in-person lectures where very few students engaged
• Peer grading for critical thinking activities
o Student assigned grades correlated with teacher grades, and self-grading even more
correlated (as long as they’re incentivized so they can’t give themselves a perfect grade)
Let’s use video to reinvent education (Salman Khan)
• By letting students have self-paced lecture before coming to class and letting peers interact with
each other about what they learned, technology has humanized learning
• Generate a ton of exercises to keep going until student feels better
o No time or quantity restraint, hints/explanations throughout for help