RUNNING HEAD: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS)
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): The effects on students in higher education Charlotte Paterson ETEC 500 University of British Columbia Oksana Bartosh
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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) 2
Table of Contents Abstract
Page 3
Introduction
Page 4 - 5
Statement of research questions
Page 5
Literature review
Page 6
Goals of MOOCs
Page 6
Need for MOOCs
Page 6 - 7
Benefits of MOOCs
Page 7 - 9
Challenges of MOOCs
Page 9 - 12
Methodology
Page 12 - 14
Selection of Participants
Page 14
Instruments
Page 14 - 15
Schedule of activities
Page 16
Limitations of approach
Page 16 - 17
Discussion and significance of the proposed research
Page 17 - 19
References
Page 19 - 22
Appendices
Page 23
Appendix A Comparison of key aspects of MOOCs or Open Education
Page 23
Appendix B Pre-course survey
Page 24 - 25
Appendix C Exit interview questions
Page 26
Appendix D Likert-scale
Page 27
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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Effects on students in higher education “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” -
Nelson Mandela
Abstract Since 2012, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been gradually gaining ground on traditional institutions of higher education. As more people have access to the Internet and have a passion for life-long learning, MOOCs are gaining in popularity because they are accessible and often free. There have been mixed opinions; however, from the NY Times labeling 2012 as the “Year of the MOOC” (Pappano, 2012) to Time Magazine stating that traditional “College is Dead” (Ripley, 2012). The largest provider, Coursera, has five million students while edX has more than 1.3 million (Fowler, 2013) enrolled from around the world. The initial purpose for MOOCs was to “bring the best education in the world to the most remote corners of the planet, help people in their careers, and expand intellectual and personal networks” (Pappano, 2012). The purpose of my research is to look at the social and emotional impact these courses have on those students who enroll for their higher education. By using an exploratory mixed methods approach, I will weigh the qualitative data (surveys, interviews and testimonials) more heavily against the quantitative data (enrollment numbers, assessment and achievement) to answer the research questions and to identify the demographics of the students who enroll in MOOCs.
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Introduction With the advent of Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs, a new form of distance learning has been created that is changing the way people access their higher educational needs and academic interests. A Google search for “massive open online courses”, resulted in “more than two billion articles among Wikipedia, blogs, newspapers, discussion forums, and databases” (Marques & McGuire, 2013a, para 2). A MOOC “is an educational resource resembling a class, that has assessment mechanisms and an endpoint, that is all online, that is free to use without admissions criteria and that involves hundreds of students or more” (Marques, 2013). One of the first of these courses was designed by Stephen Downes and George Siemens, called “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge/2008 (CCK/08)”. They created the course in response to the popularization of technology inside and outside classrooms (Marques, 2013). CCK/08 enrolled nearly 2,200 people with “the aim to allow students to create their own personal learning environments and at the same time support an interconnected knowledge” though content creation, discussions and debates, forums, blogs and social networks (Marques, 2013). Since 2008, hundreds of courses have been designed and completed in all subject and interest areas. The earliest providers of open online courses were the Khan Academy and iTunes U. Salman Khan of Khan Academy originally focused on creating accessible and engaging videos of math lectures but has recently ventured into including history lessons as well. iTunes U by Apple, made it possible for educators and colleges to create courses, post podcasts and lecture videos, and download textbooks for free. Coursera, edX, and Udacity were developed when leading universities and institutions, including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
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and Stanford, united the best online tools with the most prestigious teaching available (Marques, 2013; Chen et al., 2013, p. 3). “From a pragmatic perspective, MOOCs provide access for large numbers of people who might otherwise be excluded for reasons ranging from time limitations, to geographic location, to formal prerequisites, to financial hardship� (McAuley et al., 2012, p. 6). Hundreds, even thousands of students are able to freely register for an online course. But why do students take these courses and how are MOOCs affecting the way people learn? I am interested to see whether or not MOOCs are the future of education or if blended learning, with professors conducting traditional lectures and making course content available online, will become the standard in higher education. Statement of Research Question The purpose of this study is to look at the social and emotional impacts online courses have on the students that chose to register for a MOOC. It can be lonely being online; therefore, people who take a MOOC tend to be self-motivated, life-long learners. As the popularity of MOOCs rises, more people are turning to them for certificates and diplomas. By analyzing the results of the pre-course survey and post-course interviews completed by the participants, I hope to discover the benefits and challenges students face when studying in a MOOC. The goal of my research is to be able to answer the following three questions: 1. What does it feel like to be a student in a MOOC? 2. To what extent is the act of learning changing? 3. How successful are the students that enroll in MOOCs?
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Literature Review Goal of MOOCS The main goal of MOOCs is to “bring the best education in the world to the most remote corners of the planet, to help people in their careers, and expand intellectual and personal networks” (Pappano, 2012). However, with the development of open online courses, students rarely interact with professors or other students, something that is standard when enrolling with a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ college or university. “The multimedia generation has popularized distance learning and allowed for new educational possibilities, but only computers and the web could unite forces to provide a new e-learning infrastructure, mainly built upon networks and communities on-line” (Marques, 2013, para 6). Just as the name describes, MOOCs are characterized by their massiveness, openness, and connectivist philosophies (Chen et al., 2013, p. 3). Massiveness refers to MOOCs abilities to easily accommodate large numbers of students from countries around the world. Openness involves several key concepts: software, registration, curriculum, and assessment; communication including interaction, collaboration, and sharing; and learning environments (Rodriguez, 2012, p. 4). Students can choose from a variety of courses in all fields, including science, engineering, philosophy and economics. Connectivism values autonomy, diversity, openness, and interactivity (Rodriguez, 2012, p. 5). MOOCs offer choices to anyone seeking higher education, professional development, improvement of his or her qualifications, completion of a training program, or to satisfy lifelong learning goals. Need for MOOCs
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Global population growth and the resulting increase in demand for higher education has resulted in many institutions teaming up to offer their courses free of charge online. According to the British Council, the number of students enrolled in higher education is expected to increase by 21 million by 2020 (“Horizon Scanning”, 2013). With an increasing number of lifelong learners, the number of 25 to 34 year-olds with post-secondary education worldwide in 2020 is expected to be over 204 million (OECD, 2012). This means that there needs to be more affordable sources of higher education. According to the Organization for Economic CoOperation and Development’s (OECD) Education Indicators in Focus (2012), “The rapid expansion of higher education in fast-growing G20 economies has caused a significant shift in the distribution of the global talent pool among countries.” The OECD also expects that over 40% of higher education students will be from China and India (2012). Benefits for students of MOOCs Learners’ motivations to participate in MOOCs is a significant area of interest to many higher education stakeholders, including the educational institutions that offer courses online, business leaders, professors and students. “There are many factors that influence students’ motivation to learn; these include future economic benefits, development of personal and professional identities, challenges and achievement, enjoyment and fun” (Yuan & Powell, 2013, p. 9). Some of the areas in which MOOCs have been cited as being beneficial for students include increased options for accessibility, increased potential for student engagement, and expanded lifelong learning opportunities (Carr, N., 2012; Duderstadt, 2012, Chen, Barnett, & Casheena, 2013). Accessibility. Since the majority of MOOCs are free or charge a small registration fee, this can be appealing for many potential students. With the courses being available online,
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students around the world can register in any of the thousands of possible courses from just about any country. There are no pre-requisites that limit people from taking a course and the courses are offered in asynchronous time, thus, being flexible. “MOOCs have not been limited to college students, and/or professionals, but even younger students can participate in the MOOC experience” (Chen, Barnett, & Chasheena, 2013). Younger students, who are still in high school, can register in an online course to explore potential career options in areas of interest. “Numerous MOOCs provide introductions or overviews into areas of study, jobs and paths to a career” (Morrison, 2013, para. 6). Student engagement. MOOCs are designed to stimulate learning and enhance student engagement through forums and discussion boards; something that can be difficult with courses offered online only. Student engagement is the investment of time and effort, and educators also play an important role in this. Rodriguez (2012) highlighted eight important roles an educator must take into consideration: “amplifying, curating, directing, aggregating, filtering, modeling, and staying current” (as cited in Chen, Barnett, & Chasheena, 2013). When students are interested in the material, they engage in conversations with each other over discussion boards. It is also important that this enthusiasm is maintained for the four to six weeks or the eight to ten weeks, being the average length a MOOC is offered so as to entice students to complete the course. Lifelong learning experiences. Taking a MOOC allows a student to pursue personal interests with little pressure with regards to prerequisites or the hassle of applying for a college or university course. According to de Waard (2011), “lifelong learning skills will be improved, for participating in a MOOC forces you to think about your own learning and knowledge
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absorption� (p. 2). An interesting fact to identify is that the majority of people enrolled in a MOOC already have a Bachelor’s degree (MOOCs: The Pros and Cons, 2014). Jonathan Haber has finished his Degree of Freedom, an attempt to learn everything from a four-year, liberal arts degree program in twelve months using only free educational resources. He found that the demands from MOOCs were less demanding than their residential equivalents, thus making it possible to complete a Bachelor of Arts program in one year. Flexibility is a key reason why students take a MOOC and Haber writes that, Unsurprisingly, no school calendar I could find would allow someone to fit this many classes into such a short time period. But, more importantly for this discussion, having gone through a traditional four-year college degree program a while back, it was clear to me that even if scheduling were not a problem, trying to fit 32 semester-long, bricks-andmortar college classes into twelve months would not be possible given the workload of courses created by professors who assume their students are each taking no more than 4-5 classes at a time (2014, para 5). However, for all the benefits of taking MOOCs, they do not come without their challenges and deficiencies. Students need to be disciplined and have good time management skills. Challenges facing students of MOOCs It is a challenge for even the most established MOOCs to meet the requirements of the students that register in the courses. Critics of MOOCs often cite the issue of students feeling isolated in a course with thousands of others and they highlight the very low completion rates, which are often lower than 10% (Educase, 2013).
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Individual instruction and completion rates. Independent learning can be a struggle for many students who are familiar with the traditional lecture and assignment structure of college or university classes. Learning through a computer can be isolating. Students feel disengaged when they do not have contact with professors or other students. It has been estimated that more than 90% of people who sign up for a MOOC do not finish (Fowler, 2013). Meyer (2012) reported that the dropout rates of MOOCs offered by Stanford, MIT and UC Berkley were 80-95%. For example, only 7% of the 50,000 students who took the Coursera-UC Berkeley course in Software Engineering completed (Yuan & Powell, 2013, p. 11). Since the majority of MOOCs are free, students do not lose money when they drop out of a course and there is no penalty on a transcript. As cited in Fowler’s 2013 report card on MOOCS, Shanna Smith Jaggers, the assistant director of Columbia University’s Community College Research Centre, has been looking into why this is happening. She has found that “the most important thing that helps students succeed in an online course is interpersonal interaction and support” (Fowler, 2013). In other words, people need people. Many critics of MOOCs have also pointed out the results of Udacity’s pilot project at San Jose State University where, in the spring semester of 2013, pass rates for three entry-level courses were significantly lower than their on-campus counterparts (Straumsheim, 2013). These low completion rates and pass rates have indicated that MOOCs are effective in educating the 1% of learners that would excel in any learning environment (Carr, D., 2013). Although instructors and MOOC providers are trying to mitigate this problem of isolation by sending out personalized emails of encouragement or motivational messages, these are not always well received (Fowler, 2013). Another possible way to provide personal interaction on a mass scale is for courses to have forums where students can communicate and collaborate with
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one another in their learning. A joint study completed by MIT and Harvard’s Lori Breslow, David Pritchard, and Andrew Ho, investigated the online-only version of edX’s course “Circuits and Electronics” in 2012. With almost 155,000 people registered for the courses, data was collected throughout the semester regarding how many “users clicked and scrolled through lecture videos, tutorials and discussion threads, generating more than 230 million interactions with the online platform” (Chu, 2013, para 2). The researchers have not concluded their analysis of the data but they have “found a mild correlation between the number of posts people made in the discussion forum and their final grades” (Fowler, 2013). Delivery. Learning online and the delivery of information are different from a traditional knowledge transmission model (Legon, 2013). Students are generally self-directed, learning from short lecture videos, listening to podcasts, or reading articles. Joseph Harris, a Duke University writing professor and advocate of teacher-student relationships, wrote that a MOOC is little more than a “digitalized textbook” (2013, para. 13) and Ronald Legon, an executive director of the Quality Matters Program, wrote that, The format is strikingly unsuited for encouraging and sustaining the average or challenged student, who requires the instructor to establish clear, measurable objectives, engage students individually and with their peers, monitor progress and hold students to deadlines and performance benchmarks, provide regular feedback on their work, and encourage their efforts on an almost daily basis (2013, para. 7). As a creator of the first MOOC, George Siemens (2013) adds that “most MOOCs do not prepare learners to create, generate, solve and innovate”.
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Assessment and accreditation. Considering MOOCs can support hundreds of thousands of students, assessing student work for completion or the conferring of credit is difficult. MOOCs are unable to provide capstone projects like a senior thesis or subjective exams because of the sheer number of students. These are impossible for professors or even teams to grade on a mass scale. Some MOOCs are experimenting with peer grading and self-assessment, but results have been mixed with plagiarism as an issue (Fowler, 2013). To add, Yuan & Powell (2013) found that most forms of current MOOC assessment occurred in two forms: multiple-choice questions with automated answers and feedback, and peer feedback. In part, due to this lack of quality control, universities have been hesitant to confer college credit for MOOCs, and California bill SB 520, that would have pushed public universities to confer credit to students that successfully completed MOOCs, was shelved due to political, regulatory, administrative, and educational factors (Kolowich, 2013). Refer to Appendix A (Table 1 on page 23) for information regarding which MOOCs provide institutional credit. Methodology In order to conduct a successful QUAL-quan research study, I have contacted two instructors at the University of British Columbia and asked them to incorporate my study surveys, interviews and Likert-scales into their Coursera course on “Climate Literacy”. “Climate Literacy” tackles the scientific and socio-political dimensions of climate change, a relevant topic in today’s growing and environmentally aware society. This course introduces the basics of the climate system, models and predictions, human and natural impacts, mitigative and adaptive responses, and the evolution of climate policy (Burch & Harris, 2013). It runs for ten weeks, requires three to five hours of work per week, has ten modules, and is offered
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in English. Since there are weekly quizzes (10 to 12 questions), two assignments, discussion forums and a final exam, students are likely to complete the tasks and not drop out of the course because there is plenty of engaging material. “Climate Literacy� also offers official recognition in the form of a verified certificate from the University of British Columbia (Burch & Harris, 2013) upon completion. By using a QUAL-quan model, also known as the exploratory mixed methods design, I will emphasize the qualitative data (surveys and interviews) more heavily against the quantitative data of enrollment numbers and satisfaction (using a Likert-scale). Qualitative data provides descriptive information and does not necessarily require a large sample of participants. A MOOC can have hundreds or even thousands of students enrolled, but on average, only 10% of students will actually complete it. Therefore, all students registered in the course will complete a precourse survey containing seven questions as a first week requirement. The link to the survey will be posted on the course website. From the information gathered regarding demographics, enrollment numbers, and reasons for taking the course, a representative sample will be selected to ensure that there is a large enough number of participants to power my study. Over the course of the ten weeks, students will complete the assigned modules, watch the videos, take the quizzes, and discuss readings. After the course is finished, the instructors will send out a link to the open-ended interview questions and Likert-scale in conjunction with the course evaluation forms. Since it is expected that students in the study will drop out of the course, the registrar’s office will email the link and questions to them. As a way of ensuring that responses are received, an incentive for the chance to win a $100 gift card will be offered. Participants will have three weeks to complete the questions and statements, with an invitation and reminder being sent out every week for three weeks.
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Post study, the data will be collected, organized and analyzed. The purpose of this research study is to explore the social and emotional impact of learning on students in a MOOC. The data will bring to light the reasons these types of courses are chosen over traditional higher educational settings, what purpose the courses serve for the students, and the demographics of the students taking courses. Selection of participants From the students that register for the Coursera course on “Climate Literacy” offered by the University of British Columbia, a representative sample of each age category will be selected based on the results of the pre-course survey. These students have an interest in the “linkages between climate change and other pressing priorities such as human health, poverty, community livability, economic resilience, and other environmental problems (such as biodiversity and water quality)” (Burch & Harris, 2013). In the pre-course survey (found in Appendix B on pages 24 to 25), anonymity is important and students will identify themselves as male or female showing which sex is more likely to register for a course. Students will also indicate their age from a list of age categories. As some high school students enroll in a MOOC to see whether or not they are interested in a particular field, the first age category is students who are younger than 18 years of age. The next age category is university-aged students (18 to 22). Jobs are requiring more specialized skills, and the next age category represents those students who might be looking to improve their resume (23 to 29). The final categories are focused on those seeking professional development or lifelong learning experiences. The survey will also provide the reasons for taking the MOOC. This information will be valuable for creating the representative, stratified sample of participants. Instruments
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The instruments that will be used to research and understand the social and emotional satisfaction of students in a MOOC include surveys, interviews, and Likert-scales. Examples can be found in the appendices on pages 24 to 27. Participants will complete a survey of questions at the beginning of the course with respect to demographics, expectations and reasons for enrolling. Surveys provide answers to yes or no questions and are good for collecting students’ ideas about topics, in this case, on MOOCs. In order to make taking the survey easier, the survey website will be mobile friendly and a link will be on the course website. After the end date of the course, students will participate in an exit-interview of five questions to find out if their expectations were met and how they felt being a part of an online, asynchronous learning environment, where the expectations were set at, “You are welcome to do as much or as little of the course as meets your own goals” (Burch & Harris, 2013). Even if students drop the course, the exit interview will provide valuable information as to why this happened (see Appendix C on page 26). The number of participants responding will be lower than the number who completed the survey. Thus, it is appropriate to use an interview. Interviews allow respondents to answer open-ended questions about their personal opinions regarding their experience in the course. The Likert-items will provide quantitative data pertaining to the social and emotional satisfaction of the students in the MOOC. The scale measures students’ positive and negative responses to statements, not questions. The sum of the responses of the Likert-items will be analyzed using the data’s mode, or the numbers that occur the most often in a data set. The higher the number, the more likely that participants are socially and emotionally satisfied with their learning in an online environment. In order to avoid social desirability, the Likert-scale
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(Appendix D on page 27) will be anonymous and provided after grades are awarded, thus showing more accurate opinions and reducing bias in the data. Schedule of activities As the course runs for ten weeks, I will conduct surveys prior to beginning the course and an interview after completion of the course. Below is a list of the proposed schedule for research, analysis and conclusions to the research questions: Time
Activity
September
Selection of participants in a course Email short surveys
October November
Participants are in course Participants finish course after final exam Conduct post-course surveys and interviews
December
Quantitative analysis of data collected from participants Conclusions to the research questions
Limitations of approach With a study that is based on research collection and data analysis from participants, it is important to address that there are limitations in the chosen research methodology. It is difficult to randomly select participants because of high dropout rates and because of confounding variables, including self-selection and selection biases (those students willingly completing all the tasks and who are self-motivated learners). Students may think that the instruments are tied to course performance and will answer questions according to the way they think the instructors
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will want, thus, resulting in inaccurate research results. A representative or stratified sample will eliminate the confounding variable of only “survey interested” students being involved in the research as these students may also be more likely to be higher achievers. One disadvantage of stratified sampling is that it can be difficult to select relevant strata, especially if the subgroups of a population are largely homogeneous. A strong attempt will be made to protect participant privacy. The names of participants will be kept anonymous but it is hard to eliminate the possibility of identifying characteristics being inferred from the results. Students who drop out of the course may not be willing to complete an interview coming from course instructors, asking students why they did not finish. An email will be sent from the registrar’s office after a student has dropped, inviting the students to complete the interview questions, which are designed to find out how supported students felt or to shed light on their experiences in the course. This is to avoid the sample size being too small to get statistically valid data. Discussion and Significance of the Proposed Research The retention rates of students in MOOCs are low and it would be useful to find out why and at what stage students drop out of courses. “MOOCs build on the engagement of learners, who self-organize their participation, according to learning goals, prior knowledge and skills, and common interests” (McAuley et al., 2010, p. 10). Therefore it is important to keep studying the students who are registering in these courses in order to understand what it looks and feels like to be a learner in a MOOC. Continuing to study MOOCs will supply institutions, course providers, and students with valuable information regarding the demographics, educational backgrounds, and intended goals of the students. Students’ suggestions and feedback can help the educational stakeholders design better, more engaging online courses.
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Similar studies have been done on the topic of MOOCs and their effects on student learning. For example, the study findings completed at Duke University of its first MOOC, “Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach”, the researchers, Belanger & Thornton, showed that student motivations typically fell into one of four categories: •
To support lifelong learning or gain an understanding of the subject matter, with no particular expectations for completion or achievement,
•
For fun, entertainment, social experience and intellectual stimulation,
•
Convenience, often in conjunction with barriers to traditional education options,
•
To experience or explore online education (2013).
Of the findings on the pre-course survey, fun and enjoyment were selected as important reasons for enrolling by a large majority of students (95%) and on the post-course survey, most reported that they have a general interest in the topic (87%). Students used the online course to help them decide if they wanted to take college/university classes (15%) while a significant minority of students claimed that they could not afford to pursue a formal education (10%) (Belanger & Thornton, 2013, p. 9-10). With the research I am proposing, I hope to find similar results and to better understand how learning is changing as a result of technology and globalization. I want to understand learner motivations at the outset of a course, what maintains learner motivation during a course, and where the majority of the students are from. By analyzing the results of the survey, interview and Likert-Scale, I will identify the key reasons why different demographics (gender, age, and nationality) choose MOOCs. I will analyze each age category and the reasons that MOOCs are
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chosen over traditional ‘brick and mortar’ educational methods. Blended learning might be a happy medium for the majority of students seeking a higher education. Overall, MOOCs are new on the scene and not fully understood. Therefore, addressing how students learn in the 21st century with regard to massive open online courses will continue to be a topic of much debate. References Belanger, Y., & Thornton, J. (2013, February 5). Duke University's First MOOC. Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach. Retrieved March 27, 2014, from http://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/6216/Duke_Bioelectricity_ MOOC_Fall2012.pdf?sequence=1 Burch, S., & Harris, S. (2013, September 30). Coursera.org. Coursera. Retrieved March 27, 2014, from https://www.coursera.org/course/climateliteracy Carr, D. (2013, August 19). Udacity CEO says MOOC ‘magic formula’ emerging. InformationWeek. Retrieved from http://informationweek.com Carr, N. (2012, September 27). The crisis in higher education. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved from http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/429376/the-crisis-inhigher-education/ Chen, X., Barnett, D. R., & Stephens, C. (2013). Fad or Future: the advantage and challenges of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) [PDF document]. Retrieved from https://www.lindenwood.edu/r2p/docs/ChenBarnettStephens.pdf Chu, J. (2013, June 10). Data from edX's first course offer preliminary insights into online learning. MIT's News Office. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from
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http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/6002x-data-offer-insights-into-online-learning0611.html De Waard, I. (2011, July 25). Explore a new learning frontier: MOOCs. Learning Solutions Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/721/explore-anew-learning-frontier-moocs Dennis, M. (Fall 2012). The Impact of MOOCs on Higher Education. Washington, DC: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ995763) Duderstadt, J. J. (2012). The future of the university: A perspective of the oort cloud. Social Research, 79(3), 579-600. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Educause. (2013). 7 things you should know about MOOCs II. Educause. Retrieved from https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7097.pdf Fowler, A. (2013, October 8). An early report card on massive open online courses. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/ Global Opportunities for UK Higher Education International Unit. (2013, September). Horizon scanning: What will higher education look like in 2020?. Retrieved from www.obhe.ac.uk/documents/download?id=934 Harris, J. (2013, March 11). Teaching ‘by hand’ in a digital age. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/03/11/teachingby-hand-in-a-digital-age/
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Kolowich, S. (2013, August 8). The MOOC ‘revolution’ may not be as disruptive as some had imagined. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/MOOCs-May-Not-Be-So-Disruptive/140965/ Legon, R. (2013, April 25). MOOCs and the quality question. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/04/25/moocs-do-not-represent-best-onlinelearning-essay Marques, J. & McGuire, R. (2013a, Jun 7). What is a massive open online course anyway? MN+R attempts a definition. MOOC News and Reviews. Retrieved from http://moocnewsandreviews.com/what-is-a-massive-open-online-course-anywayattempting-definition/ Marques, J. (2013b, April 17). A short history of MOOCs and distance learning. MOOC News and Reviews. Retrieved from http://moocnewsandreviews.com/ Meyer, R. (2012). What it’s like to teach a MOOC (and what the heck’s a MOOC?). Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/cdfvvqy McAuley, A., Stewart, B., Siemens, G., & Cormier, D. (2010). The MOOC model for digital practice, 1-63. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/MOOC_Final.pdf MOOCs: The Pros and Cons. (2014). Ashton College. Retrieved from http://www.ashtoncollege.com/moocs-the-pros-and-cons/ Morrison, D. (2013, May 16). Life After High School – Using MOOCs for Career Exploration. MOOC News and Reviews RSS. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from http://moocnewsandreviews.com/life-after-high-school-using-moocs-career-exploration/
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Nelson Mandela quote. (n.d.). BrainyQuote. Retrieved from March 16, 2014, from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/nelsonmand157855.html
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. (2012, May). Education indicators in focus: 2012. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/edu/50495363.pdf Pappano, L. (2012, November 2). The year of the MOOC. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/ Ripley, A (2012, October 18). College is dead. Long live college! Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://nation.time.com/ Rodriguez, C. O. (2012). MOOCs and the AI-Stanford like courses: Two successful and distinct course formats for massive open online courses. Philadelphia, PA: European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning. Retrieved from ERIC database. (EJ982976) Straumsheim, C. (2013, August 28). Boost for Udacity project. Inside higher ed. Retrieved from http://insidehighered.com Yuan, L., & Powell, S. (2013). MOOCs and open education: implications for higher education. Centre for Educational Technology & Inoperability Standards. Retrieved from http://publications.cetis.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/MOOCs-and-OpenEducation.pdf
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Appendix Appendix A Table 1: Comparison of key aspects of MOOCs or Open Education Whereas edX offers only Harvard and MIT’s courses, Coursera focuses on providing a platform that any university can use and Udacity only offers its own curriculum with specialised areas. Other open education initiatives, such as Udemy, P2PU and Khan Academy have been around for a while and provide opportunities for anyone to learn with experts, peers and others outside traditional universities. Table 1 indicates the major differences between the initiatives described above in terms of financial motivation, access, fees and credits (Yuan & Powell, 2013, p. 8).
Table 1: Comparison of key aspects of MOOCs or Open Education Initiatives edX
Coursera
Udacity
For profit
Free to access
Certification fee
Institutional Credit
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Udemy
P2PU
KEY
Not a feature
Feature present
Features partially present
Appendix B Pre-course survey questions
Climate Literacy (September to November 2014) This survey is to be completed at the beginning of the course on Climate Literacy, offered by the University of British Columbia, through Coursera.
1. Circle your gender -
Male
2. Indicate your age category -
>18 years 18-22
or
Female
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) 25
23-29 30-39 40-49 50+
3. What is your nationality?
4. Where are you currently living while taking the course?
5. What do you hope to achieve from this course on Climate Literacy?
6. What are your reasons for choosing this course? Check all that apply.
For fun (lifelong learning experiences) Learn a new skill Heard of MOOCs and wanted to try one The course is offered by the University of British Columbia The course is offered by Coursera Want a job so will use course to boost the resume or Ciriculum Vitae (C.V.) Professional development in a related field Receive a certificate or college credit The course is free and there were no prerequisites Other reasons _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) 26
7. Have you ever enrolled in a MOOC before?
Yes
or
No
If you answered “yes�, please answer the following questions. i.
List the name(s) of the course(s) previously taken:
ii.
Did you complete the course(s)? Why or why not?
Appendix C Exit Interview
Climate Literacy (September to November 2014) These questions will be completed at the end of the course on Climate Literacy, offered by the University of British Columbia, through Coursera. 1. What are your reasons for taking the course?
2. Have you fully completed the course to receive a certificate? Circle your answer.
Yes
or
No
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) 27 3. How long (hours per week) would you spend on each module?
4. How would you describe your overall experience in the course?
5. Would you take another MOOC? Explain.
Appendix D Course Satisfaction using a Likert-Scale Please circle the number that represents how you feel about the course on Climate Literacy. I am satisfied with it. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree It was simple to get started. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree Expectations were made clear by the professors. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree The course was fun. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) 28
The course covered everything I would expect it to. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree I felt engaged throughout the course. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree I received directed feedback from the professors and/or peers. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree I would take another MOOC. Strongly Disagree ---1---2---3---4---5---Strongly Agree
Total: ________ 40