Lecture Delivered to Learning Lab 19th October 2016 Dublin City University

1. MOOC Tales & Trends
Dr. Mairéad Nic Giolla Mhichíl
Senior Research Fellow
National Institute of Digital Learning
Dublin City University

4. MOOC – Definition
• Definition by the EADTU - European Association
of Distance and Teaching Universities (2015)
• MOOCs are “online courses designed for large
numbers of participants, that can be accessed by
anyone anywhere as long as they have an
internet connection, are open to everyone
without entry qualifications, and offer a
full/complete course experience online for free”.

6. MOOC Platforms
- ALISION
- EdX
- Udemy
- Udacity
- Iversity
- OpenUpEd
- Open2Study
- OER universitas
- FutureLearn
- Moodle

7. MOOCs
Gartner Hype Cycle

8. Aras Bozkurt, Nilgun Ozdamar Keskin & Inge de Waard (2016) Research Trends in
Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Theses and Dissertations: Surfing the
Tsunami Wave, Open Praxis, vol. 8 issue 3, July–September 2016, pp. 203–221 (ISSN
2304-070X)

9. “They came; they conquered very little; and now they face
substantially diminished prospects. (Zemsky, 2015)
Flipped classroom, blended learning…

11. Europe and MOOCs
Jansen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in Europe Status report based on a mapping survey conducted in October -
December 2014. EADTU – HOME project. Available from
http://eadtu.eu/documents/Publications/OEenM/Institutional_MOOC_strategies_in_Europe.pdf

12. Jensen, D., & Schuwer, R. (2015). Institutional MOOC strategies in
Europe: Status report based on a mapping survey conducted in
October – December 2014.

13. 2015 - 35 million learners
2014 - 18 million learners
What are the characteristics of a
MOOC learner or MOOCer?

14. Your Average MOOCer?

15. Five Trends - ClassCentral.Com
• Rise of self-paced courses less of the rigid course outline
• Death of free certificates
• Targeting of courses at secondary and school leavers
• Big-MOOC providers find their business models
• Big Funding Rounds to Accelerate Growth

16. Harvard & MIT Analysis
“The flow of resources and innovations between residential and online courses
has been considerable at HarvardX and MITx. Instant-feedback assessment
scoring, video annotation tools, online office hours, and high-quality videos have
served both online and residential students…
Beyond Cambridge, Massachusetts, we also have evidence of the potential and desire
of instructors to incorporate HarvardX and MITx content into their own teaching.
Yale is adopting a Harvard computer science course, CS50, for its own students.
The evidence of large numbers of teacher participants in our data is consistent with
many anecdotes passed on from HarvardX and MITx instructors of individual teachers
using pieces of HarvardX and MITx content in their own classrooms.
There is an opportunity to make the “secondary” use of open online course
resources by teachers a primary goal.”

17. DCU Venture into MOOC Land
Strong Pedagogical Community
LowBrandAwareness
HighBrandAwareness
Weak Pedagogical Community

18. LowBrandAwareness
HighBrandAwareness
Weak Pedagogical Community
Strong Pedagogical Community

19. Closed to Shaping
InconsistentDesign
ConsistentDesign
Open to Shaping

21. Head Start Online – DCU targeting
new online learners - Pilot

22. Part of Irish State’s National Commemorative
Programme 2016

23. Launch 2016

25. LMOOCs – NeoNatal
(Sokolik, 2014)
Language Learning MOOCs

26. LMOOC space…
2014 = 26 - Bárcena and Martín-Monje (2014)
2015 = 46 - Research Team

28. LMOOCs overview
• Features of Language Learning MOOCs…
– Global languages: ENGLISH, SPANISH, with more Chinese
MOOCs coming on stream
– Mainly Ab initio courses
– Example ENGLISH MOOCS can be divided into…
• Majority Ab Initio
• Small minority targeting Intermediate learners
• Tiny fraction aimed at English in specific purposes i.e. business
domains, etc

29. Context
• Descriptions of LMOOCs imply…
– Transmission or xMOOC approach
– Some assert facilitation of collaborative learning
• Language learning viewed as active, needing the
development of both:
– Knowledge
– Skills
• Traditional practice suggests language classrooms
should or cannot scale!
–Massive in MOOC is an issue

30. • Not just about xMOOC or cMOOC
– Instruction versus collaborative oriented
• LMOOC should engage an action-oriented
approach to language learning

31. Digital Learning Ecology
Source: (Brown, 2015)

32. Irish 101
• Fulbright Center for the Study of Languages
and Cultures at Notre Dame University
Objectives of the study
• Technical, Pedagogical, Linguistic, Cultural
Issues

33. Significant Usability Testing

34. Testing Comments
I have never learned Irish so it was interesting to start to understand the basics of the
language. It was nice to be able to listen to an authentic Irish speaker to know how the
sounds are pronounced. I wonder if the recording parts will be evaluated by a teacher?
It would be nice to get immediate feedback about my intonation etc.
I didn't like that we didn’t get more immediate feedback on the
speaking portion. I had no clue if I said it right of completely wrong I
think it would be helpful to see the words while you were speaking
them so that you could actually visualize what you were saying. I
was just repeating words from my phonological loop but couldn't
visualize them

35. Usability Testing – Findings
• Integrate Social Media Practices
– Learners want to like and comment on resources
– Encourage interaction
– Limited language ability emphasis on social
interaction – support off line groups i.e. Meetups
and online groups i.e. group participants at
registration

36. Quality & MOOCs
• How is quality measured in a MOOC?
– Academic
– Institution
• Make use of current quality and standardisation
approaches
– Learning outcomes
– Design and regulate based on an European Credit
Transfer System
– Blended learning how can MOOC blend with other
quality assured programmes/courses
• OpenUpEd – quality lable

37. Photo: Flickr user giulia.forsythe

38. Go raibh maith
agaibh!
@1mngm
mairead.nicgiollamhichil@dcu.ie

39. Key References
• Bárcena, E. and E. Martín-Monje (2014).
Language MOOCs: an Emerging Field. Language
MOOCs: Providing Learning, Transcending
Boundaries. E. Bárcena and E. Martín-Monje, DE
GRUYTER OPEN.
• Sokolik, M. (2014). What Constitutes an Effective
Language MOOC? Language MOOCs: Providing
Learning Transcending Boundaries. E. Martín-
Monje and E. Bárcena, DeGruyter Open: 16-32.