1. Dr. M’hammed Abdous
MOOCs
Massive Open Online Courses
A Passing Fad or a Disruptive
Technology?
Credit: Giulia Forsythe

2. Outline
• What is a MOOC?
• Who are the key players?
• How does it work?
• What are the skeptics and the enthusiasts saying?
– A passing fad or a disruptive innovation?
• What is at stake?
– Institution, Faculty, Student
• What are some of the challenges?
– Assessment, identity verification, plagiarism, quality, intellectual
property, copyright
• Who is crediting MOOCs?
• Are MOOCs self-sustaining?
• What are some of the opportunities?

3. Massive : Unlimited number of students
Open : No admission requirements
Online : Web-based
Course : Traditional course structure
Expand access to world
top-class education
to anyone, anywhere,
anytime - for free
“Improving teaching and learning
for students on our campuses
is one of our primary goals”
WHAT WHY
MOOCs> MOOC by Definition
What is a MOOC?

4. What’s edX? Anant Agarwal, edX President

5. MOOCs> MOOC by Definition
The Year of the MOOC… Media Hype
Access World News, 2013: 745 times
“Change the productivity side of education”

6. • Fluid and organic
learning environment
• Creativity, autonomy,
and social-networked
learning (connectivism)
• Knowledge generation
• Traditional
course structure
• Short presentations,
quizzes, peer-to-peer
interaction, automatic
peer grading
• Knowledge duplicationAggregation | Remixing
Repurposing | Sharing
VS.
MOOCs> Pedagogical Models
cMOOCs xMOOCs

7. http://chronicle.com/article/Major-Players-in-the-MOOC/138817/
MOOCS Landscape

8. Coursera EdX Udacity
Origin Stanford Harvard & MIT Stanford
Structure For-Profit Non-Profit For-Profit
Courses 370 25 22
Number of
Universities
62 from 16
countries
3, (6 international
in 2014)
Students 3,497,711 735,000 739,000
Countries 220 192
Funding $16 million VC VC $60 million
Platform Open Source
Courses Mix Science STEM Courses
Partnership Institutional Institutional Individual
Canvas Network, OpenStudy, Udemy, P2PU, Coursesites, Khan Academy
iVersity, Futurelearn (17 universities UK)
MOOCs> Key Players
MOOCs Key Players

9. http://blogs.curtin.edu.au/odvce/2013/02/curtin-university-moocs-thinking-content-platform-
partnerships/
MOOCS Landscape

10. http://www.nature.com/news/online-learning-campus-2-0-1.12590#/rising
MOOCs> Key Players
Coursera Numbers…
Number of courses
available on the platform
SupplyandDemand
Number of user accounts
on the platform (millions)
Studentorigins
United States
India
Brazil
United Kingdom
Spain
Canada
Australia
Russia
Rest of world
Information
technology
Arts and
humanities
Science
Mathematics
Business
Coursesoffered
MOOCsrising
Over little more than a year, Coursera in Mountain View, California — the largest of three companies developing and hosting
massive open online courses (MOOCs) — has introduced 328 different courses from 62 universities in 17 countries (left). The
platform’s 2.9 million registered users come from more than 220 countries (centre). And courses span subjects as diverse as
pre-calculus, equine nutrition and introductory jazz improvisation (right).
February 2012 March 2013

11. https://www.coursera.org/#about/howitworks
MOOCs> Pedagogical Models
How Does a MOOC Work?
Choose from 300+ courses in over 20 categories
created by 62 Universities from 16 countries.
Discover a course you’re interested in and
enroll today
Watch short video lectures, take interactive quizzes,
complete peer graded assessments, and interact live
with your new classmates and teachers.
Learn with 3 million Courserians
Finish your class, receive recognition for a job well
done, and achieve your goals, whether they be career,
personal, or educational.
Achieve your learning goals
and build your portfolio

12. http://www.iversity.org/
MOOCs> Pedagogical Models
iVersity MOOCs Model
Answering a few multiple-choice
questions allows students to check for
themselves whether they grasped the key
concepts. Such interactive elements keep
students engaged, ensure that they stay
on track from week to week and provide
immediate feedback to the instructor.
Core elements of an Open Course
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are more than filmed lectures or static e-learning resources. They make use of online video in
new ways and combine it with interactive elements as well as a social layer that encourages peer-to-peer learning.
Online video instruction is the core of
open course teaching. These videos break
down the content of an hour-long lecture
into individual concepts that can be
explained in short videos that are just a
few minutes long.
Video Feedback
Students can post, browse and respond to
other student’s questions in the context of
a student forum. They can upvote
questions and answers that they found
particularly helpful so that the best content
bubbles to the top.
P2P-Learning
Walker, J. (2012). Why MOOCs Might Be Hindered by the Definition of Correspondence Education?

13. Lecture-Dominated Form of Teaching
• Sleep-inducing
• Mass teaching model
• Fails to support learning
• Instructor bottleneck
• One-to-many
• Digitized Textbook
MOOCs> The Debate
The Luddites… The Skeptics
Can students really be taught critical thinking, civics, and citizenship skills in a standardized
format that values conformity? Palermo, J.(2013). Pedagogy of the Depressed.
Laurentius de Voltolina
http://bo.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Laurentius_de_Voltolina_001.jpg

14. • A philanthropic form of continuing education
• Undermining tradition of shared governance
• ATM distributor for lectures and tests
• Behaviorist model: lack of interaction with instructor
• Good for self-directed learners: Darwinian conspiracy
• Marketing tools for elite schools
• Another passing fad…
• Is this really an “altruistic venture”?
“But the sun never rose on television as an educational
‘delivery system…’” - Delbanco (2013)
Delbanco, A. The Moocs of hazard. The New Republic, April 8, 2013.
MOOCs> The Debate
The Luddites… The Skeptics

15. MOOCs
MOOCs> Pedagogical Models
Another Fad…
“A fashion that is taken up with great enthusiasm for a brief period of time; a craze.”
The American Heritage Dictionary

16. • From blackboard
to computers
• Columbia’s
Fathom Project
• AllLearn (Oxford,
Stanford and Yale)
• NYU Online
• Cardean University
MOOCs> Next Steps
En L’AN 2000: Unfulfilled Promises of Technology
In 1841 the inventor of the blackboard system deserves to be ranked among the
best contributors to learning and science, if not among the greatest benefactors of mankind”
MIT’s Seymour Papert wrote in 1984: “I think the computer will blow up the school.”

17. • Game changer, disruptive technology
– Traditional HE institutions, for-profit institutions
• Promote life-long learning
• Embrace openness
• Make HE accessible and affordable to
underprivileged groups
• Explore new pedagogical practices
• Design flexible learning paths
• Consider alternative business models
• Solve HE problems: increase productivity, reduce cost,
reduce graduation time (6 years on average), etc.
MOOCs> The Debate
The Enthusiasts or The Techno-dreamers

18. The Debate …. Dr. Gregarious Vs. Dr. Precarious

19. • Disrupt status quo forcing HE to
rethink existing model
• Enabling limitless scalability, cost reduction,
efficient delivery platform
• Challenge conventional delivery mode
assumptions: residential, hybrid, online
• Forcing roles change: faculty and students
MOOCs> Institutional Perspective
From the Institutional Standpoint…

20. • Offers new opportunities and challenges
– Intellectual property
– Copyright
– Credentialism
• Challenge/complement/replace
the on-campus learning experience
• Lessen the existing stigma
associated with online learning
• Extend institutional reach, visibility,
influence, and brand
MOOCs> Institutional Perspective
From the Institutional Standpoint…

21. • Faculty driven…
Emerged from individual faculty efforts:
– Sebastian THRUN, co-founder of Udacity, shared
that “One of the most amazing things I’ve ever done
in my life is to teach a class to 160,000 students.”
– “Volunteer students translated some of our classes
into over 40 languages; and in the end we
graduated over 23,000 students from 190 countries.
In fact, Peter and I taught more students AI, than all
AI professors in the world combined.”
– “Having done this, I can’t teach at Stanford again.”
MOOCs> Faculty Perspective
From the Faculty’s Standpoint…

22. Sebastian Thrun .. The Red Pill and the Blue Pill

23. • Excellent opportunity to rethink/renew their
teaching practices
• Analytics: assignment completion, participation,
progress
• Engage and interact with students: live chat (select
and reward high participants, enrich content, ask
students to vote on topics, etc.)
• Develop a research agenda around MOOCs learning
(http://change.mooc.ca)
• Elevate status for best teachers: stars, superstars,
megastars and the rest….
MOOCs> Faculty Perspective
From the Faculty’s Standpoint…

24. • Lifelong learning
• Curiosity,
social experience
• Convenience
• Prepare for F2F courses
• Test drive
online courses
• Career-switcher
warm-up
MOOCs> Students’ Perspective
From the Students’ Standpoint…
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/506351/the-most-
important-education-technology-in-200-years

25. MOOCs> Students’ Perspective
From the Student’s Standpoint…
• Self-organized groups: learning goals, common interests
• Collaborate, engage, vote on questions, etc.
• Median response time to students questions is 22 minutes
• BostonX to improve educational access for residents
Coursera
Meetups
In 1,492 cities
Stanford
New York
London - 04/02
Bangalore
San Francisco
Moscow
Athens - 04/25
Toronto - 04/05
Mumbai - 04/07
Kyyiv - 04/03
Chicago
Hong Kong
Delhi - 04/07
Madrid - 04/06
Pune - 04/07
Seattle - 04/30
Chennai
Nashville
Beijing - 04/07
Paris - 04/02
Philadelphia
Atlanta - 04/04
Rio de Janeiro
Vancouver
Warsaw
Mountain View
Thessaloniki
Lima - 04/06
Jakarta - 04/07
Lisbon - 04/05
Portland
San Diego
Prague - 04/06
Denver - 04/11
Brisbane
Dublin - 04/10
México City
Ann Arbor
Pittsburg
Dhaka - 04/13
Lahore - 04/06
Dubai
Find your local
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/8400361742/

26. • Use of data mining and analytics tools to personalize
student learning experience
– demographic, cognitive, non-cognitive,
learning habits, learning path
– customize learning experience
by adapting content, text, images,
pace to match individual learners’
abilities and traits
– “Data is the real asset”
26
MOOCs> Students’ Perspective
From the Students’ Standpoint…

27. How are MOOCs changing students’ lives?

28. • Live proctoring: Major exams
• Automated grading: Quizzes, programming
simulators
• Peer review: Small rotating groups
• Peer grading: Wikipedia model
Instructor Responsibility:
• Provide detailed
guidelines for grading
• Compare
crowdsourcing results
to personal grading
Considerations:
• Lack of consistency
• Largest peer grading
pipeline
• Expert vs.
Novice Graders
MOOCs> Common Instructional Issues
Assessment Conundrum

29. • Identity Verification
–Signature Track program ($40 --$50 per course,
with financial aid):
• ID, live webcam, biometrics including typing
• ID validation prior to test
• Plagiarism
– Coursera: Automatic plagiarism
detection programs
MOOCs> Common Instructional Issues
Student Identity and Plagiarism

30. • Rely on university brand
– Institutional reputation at stake
– Wisdom of the crowd
– Feedback program
• Risk of poor quality
– Georgia Tech Course:
• How do you organize 40,000
students in groups?
– UC Irvine
• “I will not give on standards”
MOOCs> Common Instructional Issues
Quality of Instruction

31. • Who owns the course materials?
• What’s the impact of MOOCs on “fair use”
on current EOR licensing and permission?
• edX push for open content (Delft University):
– Creative Common Licensing
• What’s the role of the library?
– Access to
non-copyrighted
material
(international)
– Research skills
and information
literacy
MOOCs> Common Instructional Issues
Intellectual Property & Copyright
Porter, (2013)

32. • Upon successful completion, the student
receive:
– Continuing education credit
– Credential or license
– Certificate
– Badge
– Credit
MOOCs> Academic Credit
Acknowledging Completion

33. edX Certificate of Completion

34. How are Moocs used for credits?

35. American Council on Education
– Recommends five MOOCs for Credit
California Senate Draft Bill (SB 520)
– 472,000 community college students waitlisted
to complete their degree (85% of courses have
waiting lists)
– Public Universities are asked to accept credits
earned in MOOCs
The State University of New York’s Board of Trustees
– Add 100,000 enrollments within three years
via MOOCs
MOOCs> Academic Credit
Who is using MOOCs for Credit?

36. San Jose State University & Udacity
– Freshman remediation: entry level
(Circuits & Electronics)
– Failure rate decreased: 41% to 9%
Colorado State University’s Global
Campus
– Course completion, Proctored tests
MOOCs for Credit in Magnolia
MOOCs> Academic Credit
Who is Using MOOCs for Credit?
Udacity and edX
partnered with Pearson VUE
to allow students to take proctored exams

37. MOOC2Degree.com
• “Students who
successfully complete
a MOOC2Degree course
earn academic credits
toward a degree,
based upon criteria
established by
participating
universities”
http://www.mooc2degree.com/
MOOCs> Academic Credit
Who is Using MOOCs for Credit?

38. • Advertising
• Employment recruitment
• Proctoring
• Course licensing and
Customization
• Subscription
• Sponsorship
• Identity verification
• Tutoring
• Completion recognition
• Start-up model:
build fast and worry
about revenue stream
later
• Unclear business model
• 6-15% of the revenue
• 20% of gross profit
• Revenue generation
or transfer of funds
• Self-sustaining model
• Donor fatigue
MOOCs> Revenue Models> Self-Sustaining or Revenue-Generating
Issues Impacting Revenue Model
How can MOOCs be self-sustaining? $220K

39. http://www.katyjordan.com/MOOCproject.html
MOOCs> Revenue Models> Low Rate of Completion
Low Rate of Completion: Sticking Point in MOOCs Debate
12,725 Registered
574 Earned Certificates
< 5%
5-10% total students, 30% from active students…

40. MOOCs> Revenue Models> Student Patters in MOOCs
Patterns of Student Behavior Within MOOCs

41. Why would ODU jump on the MOOCs bandwagon?
• “Everyone else is”
• To expand institutional branding and marketing
• To recruit new students
• To contribute to the social good
• To conduct research on online teaching
and learning
• To rethink and improve on-campus teaching and
learning practices
MOOCs> Next Steps
How Should we Proceed?

42. • Do you have faculty interested in developing
MOOCs?
–What areas? How many courses?
• Do you have funds to support
MOOC development?
–Faculty time, opportunity cost, TAs,
production, maintenance, updates
• Do you have pedagogical and technical
expertise to support MOOC development?
MOOCs> Next Steps
Before you “Go MOOC”, Ask…

43. • What type of partnerships should you pursue:
for-profit or non-profit?
• What type of licensing arrangements
should you establish?
• How are they aligned with
your own intellectual property policies?
• Should you credit MOOCs taken by your
students?
MOOCs> Next Steps
Before We “Go MOOC”, Ask…

44. • Where do MOOCs fit into our own
distance learning strategy?
• What would be the impact of MOOCs
on your current DL efforts?
• Should you encourage faculty to use MOOCs
as part of a hybrid teaching strategy?
• What role should faculty, DL and IT play
in this discussion?
• What are the organizational challenges
associated with MOOCs (accreditation)?
MOOCs> Next Steps
Before We “Go MOOC”, Ask…
?

45. Muchas gracias por su atención
M’hammed Abdous, PhD
mabdous@odu.edu