Fixing higher education through technology: Canadian media coverage of massive open online courses

The popularization of massive open online courses (MOOCs) has been shrouded in promises of disruption and radical change in education. In Canada, official partnerships struck by higher education institutions with platform providers such as Coursera, Udacity and edX were publicized by dailies and professional magazines. This print coverage of MOOCs captures the contemporary ideological struggle over the meaning of both technology and higher education. By means of a thematic analysis of the English Canadian print coverage of MOOCs (2012–2014), this paper shows that both online educational technologies and higher education are constructed through an economic frame. However, this frame does not go unchallenged. Where newspapers construct MOOCs as an easy fix for an allegedly inefficient and outdated higher education system, professional magazines question the relationship between technology, higher education and money. These different representations point to the efforts of academic communities to develop alternative social imaginaries of education as public good within a dominant neoliberal framing of MOOCs and of the higher education system. In conclusion, the paper reflects on how the academic community can create alternative discursive spaces by shifting the discussion of MOOCs from economic concerns to civic goals.     

The Case of Turkish University Students and MOOCs

Though initially proposed as a means of overcoming common barriers to higher education, MOOCs often exacerbate the very issues of accessibility and exclusivity that they were designed to avoid. Students from developing countries in particular face considerable obstacles that hinder or outright prevent their enrollment in and completion of MOOCs. This study finds that, for these students, participation in MOOCs is often complicated by language barriers, limited technological resources, and prevailing Americentric or Eurocentric designs and mindsets, among other issues. These findings were determined and reinforced by a study of Turkish college students from a large state-sponsored metropolitan university, who indicated different levels of knowledge regarding MOOCs as well as various issues, concerns, and complaints. These issues of accessibility and exclusivity must be addressed before MOOCs will truly be able to democratize access to high-quality university-level education, and the best solutions are those that acknowledge the multicultural nature of their user communities.     

The heart of educational data infrastructures = Conscious humanity and scientific responsibility,not infinite data and limitless experimentation

Education and education research are experiencing increased digitization and datafication, partly thanks to the rise in popularity of massively open online courses (MOOCs). The infrastructures that collect, store and analyse the resulting big data have received critical scrutiny from sociological, epistemological, ethical and analytical perspectives. These critiques tend to highlight concerns and/or warnings about the lack of the infrastructures' and builders' understanding of various nontechnical aspects of big data research (eg seeing data as neutral rather than as products of social processes). These critiques have primarily come from outside of the builder community, rendering the conversation largely one-sided and devoid of the voices of the builders themselves. The purpose of this paper is to re-balance the conversation by reporting the results of interviews with 11 data infrastructure builders in higher education institutions. The interviews reveal that builders engage deeply with the issues the critiques outline, not only thinking about them, but also developing practices to address them. The paper focuses the findings on three themes: designing a productive science, navigating ubiquitous ethics and achieving real human impact. Researchers, policymakers and infrastructure builders can use these accounts to better understand the building process and experience.     

A roadmap for offering MOOC from an LMIC institution

MOOCs are massive open online courses that are globally accessible, free of charge. Given their cost-free and open accessibility, it is surprising that only a few institutions have offered MOOCs from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Pakistan recently made this short list of LMICs as the first two MOOCs were launched from the country, in 2014 and 2016. Drawing from that experience, the organizers of that course present a roadmap for LMIC institutions for developing a MOOC, focusing especially on the technological and pedagogical limitations that an LMIC institution might find deterring.     

MOOC对高等教育的影响：破坏性创新理论视角

大规模开放在线课程（MOOC）以免费或廉价的方式为人们提供开放、灵活、高质量的课程,降低了学习的成本,惠及了大量的学习者,因此引起政府、高等院校和商业机构的极大关注。高等院校投入MOOC潮流的目的在于使更多的学习者享受到高校的课程,拓展教育市场,增强品牌竞争力,以及寻找潜在的盈利模式。商业机构参与MOOC的动机或者带有慈善目的,或者带有商业倾向。但是它们面临共同的挑战--探索使MOOC可持续发展的切实可行的商业模式。哈佛大学商学院Christensen教授提出的破坏性创新（Disruptive Innovations）理论,为我们分析和探讨高等院校如何利用MOOC来探索教与学的新形式和在教育市场中如何形成具有竞争优势的商业模式提供了新的视角。破坏性创新理论用来描述一种开始时根源于低端市场、功能简单的产品和服务,之后无情地侵占高端市场,并最终取代已有竞争对手的过程。当前MOOC虽然具备了破坏性创新的关键特征,即将新的商业模式与相应技术结合起来,对传统高等教育市场形成了巨大冲击,但由于教育系统自身的特殊性和复杂性, MOOC对传统高等教育的这种破坏性影响仍有待谨慎审视。而高等教育院校可以积极做出响应,从维持性创新（Sustaining Innovations）的角度探索高等院校的教学改革,以及符合自身特色可持续发展的商业运营模式。     

Academic library MOOC services and success scale

Education and Information Technologies - The benefits of MOOCs have attracted many Higher Education institutions globally to use them as a means of increasing efficiency of education delivery and...     

It is time to MOOC and SPOC in the Gulf Region

In this paper we will explain massive open online courses (MOOCs)-how they started, their targeted audience, and what services they provide- and demonstrate selected MOOC service providers that best suit the Arabian Gulf region. The record annual growth for MOOCs has made many respected institutions reconsider their educational strategies. Many elite universities have started to join the stream; others are expected to join very soon. In this paper we will focus on select MOOC providers that will help institutions or individual instructors ride the stream before it is too late. All MOOC providers have been carefully selected to meet the author’s criteria of either having crossed a capacity range limit or being tailored to meet the Arabian Gulf region needs. Finally, the paper summarizes the best practices and gives recommendations for any Gulf region institution or individual for better implementation of MOOCs into their learning system.     

慕课平台之国家精品在线开放课程数据分析

2017年和2018年,我国共遴选了1291门国家精品在线开放课程,这些课程分布在20个慕课平台。通过对国家精品在线开放课程数据的观察,发现慕课和慕课平台在数量、技术和品质上还有很大的提升空间。尤其是慕课平台的提升空间还很大。目前我国慕课平台虽然较多,但各平台在课程数量、学科分布、高校数量、高校层次和地域分布五个方面的差异却十分明显。慕课平台是慕课最主要的载体,应把优先发展慕课平台作为当下慕课工作的关键突破点。     

More than access: MOOCs and changes in Chinese higher education

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an analysis of the conceptualization of massive open online courses (MOOCs) by major influencers in Chinese higher education. Using critical discourse analysis, predominantly from university resources, a map of the discursive construction of MOOCs is presented and interpreted. The centralized orientation of decision making in Chinese higher education is reflected in how MOOCs have been introduced, envisioned, and utilized in China. With the increase of Chinese MOOCs, elite universities are able to capitalize on their comparative advantages, which may be counter to the true intent of MOOCs, which is to raise teaching standards across sectors. This paper serves to illuminate how MOOCs may reinforce the status of elite universities, thereby having the opposite effect to their real intention of democratizing higher education for the masses. The strategy of using MOOCs to improve teaching quality and augment the worldwide reputation of Chinese institutions is central to China’s reinvigorated focus on higher education, which counters the widely held perception, and intention, that MOOCs are vehicles for widening access.     

MOOCs,institutional policy and change dynamics in higher education

The last couple of years have witnessed a growing debate about online learning in higher education, notably in response to the global massive open online course (MOOC) phenomenon. This paper explores these developments from an institutional policy perspective, drawing on an analysis of the initial stages of different approaches to MOOCs and e-learning being taken up at three Australian universities. It points to four commonalities emerging from the institutional constructions of these initiatives including (1) the use of e-learning policy as a vehicle for curriculum redesign; (2) an emphasis on internal curriculum redesign as a core rationale for MOOCs; (3) a desire to capitalise on promotional opportunities but a reticence around wholly embracing the concept and structure of MOOCs and (4) the absence of access-driven concerns in university policy despite the prominence of such concerns in broader public debate. The approach is framed by a consideration of change dynamics in higher education and highlights the emphasis on internal university work within the policy narrative, suggesting this could represent an attempt to reframe the debate about MOOCs away from popular arguments about systemic disruption and instead use them to progress forms of change that align to broader strategic objectives.     

Employee Perspectives on MOOCs for Workplace Learning

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) can be considered a rather novel method in digital workplace learning, and there is as yet little empirical evidence on the acceptance and effectiveness of MOOCs in professional learning. In addition to existing findings on employers’ attitudes, this study seeks to investigate the employee perspective towards MOOCs in professional contexts and to further explore the acceptance of MOOCs for workplace learning. In a survey study, N?=?119 employees from a wide range of enterprises were questioned with regard to motivation, credentials, and incentives related to participation in MOOCs. Findings indicate a high importance of on-the-job and career development learning purposes as well as a general interest in MOOC topics. Credentials are deemed necessary, yet their acceptance among the relevant stakeholders is considered rather low. Implications for design and implementation of MOOCs in digital workplace learning and for further research are discussed.     

Possibilities for MOOCs in Corporate Training and Development

The term MOOC, an acronym for massive open online course, has been nearly ubiquitous in recent discussions about online education and distance learning. Some articles have questioned the MOOC's tentative role as “the future of education,” while others have framed it as a disrupter of traditional higher education. Research in earlier years trended toward the ways in which MOOCs may be changing the landscape of higher education. However, in the past two years, greater consideration has been focused on how MOOCs may play a role in the corporate world. The year 2012 may have been deemed “The Year of the MOOC,” but many saw 2014 as “The Year of the Corporate MOOC.” Despite MOOCs reaching their prominence as disrupters of traditional higher education, MOOC providers are now aggressively pursuing opportunities in the corporate sector. This presents a great opportunity for corporations to drive this relatively new learning platform and to tailor it to meet their organizational needs. The potential uses for MOOCs in the corporate world are vast. MOOCs can expand corporate training options, offer new recruiting techniques, and provide innovative marketing and branding channels. This article identifies the features of MOOCs, briefly reviews the history of the MOOC movement from academic MOOCs to corporate MOOCs, and discusses the possibilities for extending the MOOC format to a corporate training and employee development environment.     

MOOCs来了，开放大学如何积极应对

MOOCs大规模开放网络课程是远程教育近年来出现的新型课程模式。该课程模式具有开放、大规模、在线和免费的特点,它给高等学校特别是开放大学带来了极大震撼。本文分析了MOOCs的形成发展与优势,及其对高等学校和开放大学的影响,并依据开放大学的历史使命,提出了开放大学应对MOOCs挑战的措施。     

Beyond hype and underestimation: identifying research challenges for the future of MOOCs

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have generated enthusiasm, excitement, and hype worldwide and recently increasing skepticism. They are being broadly discussed in the major news media (and to a smaller extent in academic circles). Rapidly increasing numbers of MOOC providers, MOOC courses and articles, discussion groups, and blogs discussing MOOCs are indicators of the involvement of many stakeholders. Most of these analyses and developments are based on economic perspectives (such as scalability, productivity, and being free) and technology perspectives (including platforms supporting large number of students in online environments, enrichment components such as forums, peer-to-peer learning support, and automatic grading). Few contributions analyze MOOCs from a learning science perspective and put them into a larger context with other approaches to learning and education. This commentary explores challenges derived from the perspective to conceptualize MOOCs as being one component in a rich landscape of learning.     

Factors influencing the pursuit of personal learning goals in MOOCs

MOOCs are promising opportunities for lifelong learning, but as promising as these learning opportunities seem, many learners do not succeed in pursuing their personal learning goals. Barriers to learning are the main reason for not finishing the intended (parts of the) MOOCs. This study addressed the question whether the factors age, gender, educational level, and online learning experience affect barriers faced while learning in MOOCs. The results show that it is challenging to combine work and family life with lifelong (online) learning activities, especially for learners in their early adulthood and mid-life. However, more experience with online learning positively affects individuals’ ability to cope with these challenges. Also, learners with a lower educational level may experience a lack of knowledge or difficulties with the course content. These findings may serve as input to inform potentially vulnerable learners about these issues and support them in successfully achieving their personal learning goals.     

MOOC rampant

In 2012–2013, the massive open online course (MOOC) approach has been accepted by universities around the world, and outsourcing companies have been launched to provide the infrastructure for it. Current press and blog coverage of the MOOC trend is examined and the range of reactions to it, most of them enthusiastic. MOOCs vary in their massiveness and openness, and in the extent to which they are courses; and a wide range of MOOCs is emerging under different names. These include xMOOCs, in which course content is defined by the course designers, and cMOOCs featuring information generated by the students. The origins of the MOOC are examined, and its implications for the educational institutions that have specialized in distance education previously.     

MOOCs as a massive research laboratory: opportunities and challenges

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) offer many opportunities for research into several topics related to pedagogical methods and student incentives. In the context of over 20 years of online learning research, we discuss lessons to be learned from observational comparisons and experiments on randomly chosen groups of students. We target two MOOCs for our study. We investigate dropout rates and how students who decide to drop out differ from those who continue courses. We discuss class forums and video lectures and how these interactions correlate with achievement. We explore the strong correlation between procrastination and achievement and implications for MOOC design. We examine the role of certifications offered by MOOCs and how different options can affect outcomes. We also examine the potential of linking data across courses. We discuss survey data in the context of these MOOCs. These research opportunities offer big data challenges, which are addressed with parallel computing techniques.     

Ethical reasoning and mental health services with deaf clients

Ethical problems encountered by mental health practitioners working with deaf clients are often complex and involve issues not fully addressed in professional codes of ethics. A principles-based ethical reasoning process can assist in resolving many of these ethical concerns. Principles such as beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, fairness, integrity, and respect are found in the ethical codes of many disciplines; these can also create a common language or reference point when professionals from different fields attempt to deal with shared problems. This article discusses some applications of these principles in working with deaf individuals and proposes an ethical decision-making process that can provide a framework for ethical reasoning in thinking through complex problems.