A Curated Conversation on MOOCs in the Uk held at the altMOOCsig at UCL on 27th June 2014. Contributions from various British academics including Diana Laurillard, Shirley Ellis, Frances Bell, Jenny Mackness Amy Woodgate as well as Curtis Bonk & some colleagues from the USA. Event organised by Mira Vogel. Slides still being edited & updated, last update July 24. Should be completed by 27 July 2014

1. A Curated Conversation
On British MOOCS

2. A Curated Conversation on
the UK approach to
MOOCs
@fredgarnett @altmoocsig
#altMOOCsig held at UCL 27 June 2014

3. ukMOOCs Overview
 Based on altMOOCsig held 27 July 2014
 This is a curation of speakers thoughts
 Themes; 1 uk MOOC characteristics 2 as
Teacher CPD 3 uk Innovation 4 Further
Research 5 Critiques
 Summary & Conclusion by Fred
Garnett

4. altMOOCsig
 Organised by Mira Vogel UCL Learning
Support Programme for the Day
 Overall brief; MOOCs –which way now?
 Range of presentations mostly on
ukMOOCs; practical, theoretical, research
 Coursera & Futurelearn represented
 Audio recording of all presenters’ talks

5. My old thoughts on MOOCs
 I came to the meeting to critique the
limitations of xMOOCs – which are;
 “E-learning without the learning”
 Anachronistic course-based content
delivery offered now; an age of self-
directed networked learning
 But what did the @altmoocsig reveal?

6. Structure of altMOOCsig
 As you can see from the altMOOCsig
programme
 A range of creative MOOC solutions were
presented at the conference
 A range of issues were identified both for
review & for further research
 But first – is there a ukMOOC model?

7. cMOOC xMOOC ukMOOC
 If a connectivist cMOOC is based on
network connections then it is andragogic
 If an instructivist xMOOC is based on
subject-course delivery then it is
pedagogic
 Does the ukMOOC exhibit the creative
features of heutagogy?
 What is #heutagogy?

8. 1. ukMOOC characteristics
 Patrick Haughian on learner-centred
social networks
 Matt Jenner on reputational engagement;
 Freda Wolfenden on inclusive OER
design
 Shirley Ellis on educational stewardship
 Helen Gillespie on teacher completion

9. Patrick Haughian QUB
 MOOCs which are in tune with social
networks of the audience are well placed
to provide a learner-centred environment
which facilitate easy access & interaction
between learner, academic and content.
 They should aim to accommodate formal
and informal learning by providing
frequent and varied learning interactions
with space for 'sense-making'.

10. Matt Jenner UCL
 MOOCS boost reputational engagement,
outreach & exposure. Build capacity, capability,
research, diversification, interdisciplinarity &
recruitment.
 International collaboration widens participation
beyond traditional markets; pioneering platforms
create new literacies and alternative revenue.
 Disaggregated services encourage appropriately
licensed materials and pedagogical
experimentation with mixed learner
communities. Micro-credentials reward

11. Freda Wolfenden OU
 MOOC design draws heavily on existing
OER with the generation of minimal
original content . Design needs to
address low bandwidth issues, support,
beyond the more standard online
approaches.
 A significant amount of OER is produced
in the global north. Design will address
contextualisation through scaffolding
and support that MOOC offers.

12. Shirley Williams Reading
 When planning a MOOC getting the right
educator(s) is important.
 But it is essential to think of stewardship
while courses are running, and to be aware
that a popular course may be run several
times over a few years.
 Stewards can be undergraduates,
academic staff, postgraduates or past
participants

13. Helena Gillespie UEA
 Futurelearn 1st 6 open online courses found
different successes for different courses;
 school teachers high levels of completion
 engagement brand for businesses attracted sign
ups
 Students study skills gave international reach
 Buck MOOC demographic trend and recruit
learners without degrees. The next step is to
establish institutional aims for open online

14. 2. MOOC success with CPD
MOOC take up has been greatest with
educational professionals; open CPD &
meeting Millennium Goals
 Diana Laurillard communities of
knowledge
 Tim Seal – North/South collaborative CPD
See also (innovation)
 Eileen Kennedy – exciting CPD

15. Diana Laurillard IoE
 We could begin to solve the big problems of
education by running MOOCs as CPD to
curate & orchestrate online collaborative
innovation in the teaching community @
scale
 Those teachers form networks of knowledge
building that could support the training of the
1.5 million teachers we need to provide
universal primary education.

16. Tim Seal OU
 MOOC structures support contextualisation
& collaboration to not only realise the
benefit of OERs - mainly produced in the
global north - as offering a flexible content
approach
 This also impacts on teacher education
from the South to the North through
collaborative practice and the uptake of
large scale CPD

17. 3. UK MOOC innovation
 UK degrees are built around full degrees
NOT courses. This makes them less
flexible, reflecting our different educational
culture
 However UK staff have always innovated
(see ALT) within overall degree rigidity. We
saw some innovative practice; storytelling,
geocaching & affective excitement...

18. 3. UK MOOC innovation
 The presentations include much innovation,
MOOCs were interpreted as learning design
beyond the classroom…
 Aidan Johnston - storytelling
 Alex Griffin – geocaching
 Eileen Kennedy – affective dynamic

19. Aidan Johnston
Strathclyde
 Our course has storytelling at the heart of
MOOC design. Why storytelling? “we
wanted to give students the means whereby
they could immerse themselves in the story
– the real science behind forensic science”
 An overview of MOOC course design,
challenges and critical success factors of
the University’s first high profile MOOC.

20. Alex Griffin Huddersfield
 Wherigo geocaching is a type of MOOC,
and seeks to explore how the game can be
used as an engaging online tool to help
architecture students investigate actual and
virtual places as part of design projects.
 A Wherigo cache is intended to be planted in
Huddersfield in an urban analysis project

21. Eileen Kennedy IoE
 MOOCs could be seen as part of the
spectacularisation of education.
Nevertheless, we could learn from MOOCs to
add some spectacle to our online courses
and events (particularly CPD)
 to build excitement among busy
professionals and use teacher-produced
video to create a positive affective dynamic
within our online learning communities.

22. 4. MOOC review/research
The opportunities & innovations offered by
ukMOOCs need to be reviewed & fresh
research needs carrying out
 Pat Lockley- new paradigm
 Jenny Francis– heterogenity & metaphors
 Amy Woodgate – risk-taking open mind
 Curt Bonk – learning experiences of self-
directed learners

23. Pat Lockley Uni of London
 How did we adjust organisationally to this
new Coursera MOOC paradigm?
 How has the experience enhanced the
provision for our students studying on paid-
for programmes?
 This will cover the challenges of; taking the
first steps, the problems in staying the
course & what to do when you cross the
finish line

24. Jenny Mackness
Frances Bell
 Dave Cormier’s MOOC ‘Rhizomatic Learning:
The Community is the Curriculum’ used the
rhizome metaphor to challenge arborescent,
hierarchical, traditional ways of thinking &
learning.
 This metaphor promotes ceaseless
connections, heterogeneity, multiplicity,
nomadic thought & lines of flight. OUR
ongoing research questions participants’ use of
metaphor & “learning through the MOOC”

25. Amy Woodgate -
Edinburgh
 MOOCs have reached a critical point – are
they about numbers or reach?
 The former is easy – carry on as normal;
the latter is somewhat more problematic –
how do we reach those we have never
reached before???
 This big question requires new
approaches, collaborations, risk-taking &
an open mind to potential…

26. Curtis Bonk
Mimi Miyoung Lee
 Instead of course completion, our research
explores the learning experiences of self-
directed learners; including common
barriers, obstacles, motivations, & successes
in such environments.
 It also documents possibilities for life change
from the use of OER and MOOCs.
 Data collection included MIT OCW subscribers
& Blackboard CourseSites MOOC participants

27. 5. ukMOOCs – Critiques
MOOCs offer access to education & the
digital economy, what more is needed?
 Sherif Halawa – diagnosing dropout
 Ronald Macintyre – the promise of
OPEN
 Fred Nigel – equity, inclusion, digital

28. Sherif Halawa Stanford
 MOOC dropouts are caused by time
constraints, procrastination, & perceived
difficulty of material.
 Personalizing interventions (supplemental
help resources, workload reduction &
motivational) requires us to predict & diagnose
dropout.
 Ongoing work to improve accuracy involves
accounting for learner demographics,
intentions & course traits (length, difficulty,

29. Ronald MacIntyre OU(S)
 Looking at the promises made by Open
Universities most felt Open was the most
important enabler. The group reflected on the
promise that MOOC developers ought to make
 NOT about equity and Widening Participation,
we ought to promise, innovation, engagement
with like-minded people, fun, brand
awareness Is that really enough for a
revolution?

30. Fred Garnett LKL
Nigel Ecclesfield JISC
 MOOCs have focussed on e-enabling
education rather than transforming
learning.
 If MOOCs are to bring equity & inclusion, as
well as access, to education then their
design needs to become learner-centred
rather than content-centric.
 In co-creating learning MOOCS will also
help shape the values of an emerging
networked digital economy

31. 6. ukMOOCs - Summary
 ukMOOCs demonstrate a range of innovation
in learning design not just in course
platforms
 Initial focus on how do we scale content
delivery? Now replaced by learner
experiences, self-determined open learning
& more…
 Potentially moving away from e-enabling
education towards creative engagement
through learning design by digital stewards

32. ukMOOCs - Conclusion
 From our work on Craft of Teaching & the
Digital Practitioner we now see in HE
 A similar curiosity & confidence in
university practitioners, as we found in FE
 A similar concern with creating “artfully-
crafted, student-centred, learning
experiences”
 A similar self development with personal
tech & a move away from tech

33. ukMOOCs – A question
 Is there an emerging practice in designing &
implementing ukMOOCs? Is heutagogy key?
 altMOOCsig programme
 Before & After MOOCs
 Digital Practitioner
 A Craft of eTeaching
 JOLT – MOOCs facilitation & self-determination

34. altMOOCsig – Contributors
Patrick Haughian QUB, Matt Jenner UCL, Freda
Wolfenden OU, Shirley Williams Reading, Helena
Gillespie UEA, Diana Laurillard LKL, Tim Seal OU,
Aidan Johnston Strathclyde, Alex Griffin
Huddersfield, Eileen Kennedy IoE, Pat Lockley
London, Jenny Mackness, Francis Bell, Amy
Woodgate Edinburgh, Curtis Bonk Open , Mimi
Miyoung Lee Houston, Sherif Halawa Stanford,
Ronald MacIntyre OU(S), Fred Garnett LKL, Nigel
Ecclesfield JISC
A curated conversation of 50 words from