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MOOCsConceptandDesignusingCloud-basedTools:SpanishMOOCsLearningExperiencesRocaelHern!
ndezRizzardini,MiguelMorales,GES,GalileoUniversity,Guatemala{roc,amorales}@galileo.
eduChristianG"tl1,21IICM,GrazUniversityofTechnology,Graz.
AustriaChristian.
Guetl@iicm.
tugraz.
atVanessaChang22SchoolofInformationSystems,CurtinUniversity,Perth,Australiavanessa.
chang@curtin.
edu.
auAbstractNewformsofeducationandmediatechnologiesaswellastheavailabilityofaffordabledevices,freeservicesandopencontenthavestronglyinfluencedmodernlearningsettings.
Theadventofopencourseshavedemolishedorganizationalrestrictionsanddramaticallyincreasedthenumberofparticipatingstudents.
MOOCshavebecomeincreasinglypopular.
ThissituationhasmotivatedresearchanddevelopmentofMOOCsmakinguseofcloud-basedlearningtoolsandonlinetoolsaswellaslearningsupportspecificallyforSpanishspeakinglearners.
ExperimentationandfindingsfromtwoMOOCsexperienceshaveshownpromisingresultsintermsofmotivational,emotionalandeducationalaspects.
Onthenegativesidethereisstillahighdropoutrateandchallengeswithinteractionandcollaborationamongpeers.
1.
IntroductionOverthelastdecades,technologicaldevelopmentshavesignificantlychangedandinfluencedthewaysocietyaccess,communicate,collaborateandshareknowledge.
Giventhedemandsofcompetingworkandlifebalanceandthecommitmenttolife-longlearning,today'sgenerationoflearnersexpectflexibilityinaccessingqualityeducation.
Modernpedagogicpracticesintegratingsocio-culturalapproachestosupportlearnersinarichlearningenvironmentmustbeconsideredtoensurepositivelearningexperiencesandoutcomes.
ModerninformationandcommunicationtechnologiesandtoolssuchasWeb2.
0,Learning2.
0,cloud-basedlearningtools,opencontentandopensourcelearningtoolshaveallprovidedthegroundforinnovativeandaffordablelearningsettings[7];[2];[10].
Asaconsequenceofthesetechnologicalaffordances,manylearninginstitutionshavebeguntoaddressthe'learningindemand'stancebyintroducingopenonlinecoursesthatcanbeaccessiblebylearnersfromallovertheworld.
EarlyexampleswereGalileoUniversityinGuatemalawithRocaelHernándezRizzardiniandcolleaguesofferingacourseon'CreatingWebpages'tosome800participantsin2005[9].
In2007,DavidWileyatUtahStateUniversityofferedthe'IntroductiontoOpenEducation'course[13];[18],andGeorgeSiemensandStephenDownesrana'ConnectivismandConnectiveKnowledge'tosome2200participantsin2008[15].
ThelargenumberofparticipantshasmotivatedthetermMOOCwhichstandsforMassivelyOpenOnlineCourse[4];[6];[9];[13].
ThecharacteristicsofaMOOCcanbesummarizedasopenandfreeofcharge,activeinvolvementandparticipatoryandthecontributionsaresharedforthelearningcommunity,andthecommunicationandcollaborationtoolsandresourcesarewidelydistributed.
TwotypesofMOOCscanbedistinguishedascMOOCswhicharebasedonconnectivismandnetworking,andxMOOCsarebasedonbehaviourism[13];[14].
TheliteraturerevealsthattheadvantagesofMOOCsincludeaccessibilitytocoursesregardlessofthesocialandculturalbackgroundallowingparticipantstoconnectwithadiverselearninggroupoflearners[4];[6];[12].
MOOCssupportself-regulatedlearningwithamultitudeoflearningtoolsallowingparticipantstoaccess,collaborateandcontributetothelearning.
Thedisadvantagesincludethefeelingofisolationanddisconnection,highdropoutrates,insufficientsupportinthelearningactivitiesandrestrictionstosimpleformofassessmentratherthanprovidingfeedbackandguidance[4];[6];[12];[14];[15];[17].
TheliteraturehighlightscontinualeffortisrequiredforeducatorstodesignMOOCswithaccessthatrequiresfacilitationinvolvinglarge-scaleinteractionandfeedback.
Thissituationhasmotivatedcollaborativeresearchbetweeninstitutionsfromthreecountries:CurtinUniversityofTechnology,Australia;GrazUniversityofTechnology,AustriaandUniversidadGalileo,Guatemala.
Thisresearchisfocusedonprovidingtoolsforlearnerstocollaborate,interact,andlearninaMOOCenvironment.
Thisinvolvesusingcloud-basedlearningtoolsandonlinetools.
ThispaperdescribestheMOOCexperiencewhichwasspecificallysetuptosupportagroupofSpanishspeakinglearnerswithlittleornoEnglishliteracy.
Thepaperisorganizedasfollows:Section2presentsthepedagogicalapproachoftheMOOCs.
Section3outlinestheMOOClearningenvironmentandtoolsusedtosupportthelearningprocess.
Section4discussesandreportsonthelearningexperiencefollowedbyasummaryandfutureworkinSection5.
2.
PedagogicalApproachandMOOCDesignTheMOOClearningenvironmentspresentedinthispaperwerebasedonliteraturesurveyandpreviousMOOCsexperiencesatGalileoUniversity[9].
Inthispaper,wefocusontwofreeopencoursesthatwereofferedbyGalileoUniversitytoSpanishspeakinglearningcommunity.
BothcoursesIntroductiontoe-LearningandiPhoneDevelopmentwerestronglyinfluencedbyMOOCsitessuchasCoursera(www.
coursera.
org)andUdacity(www.
udacity.
com),andaMOOCon"ArtificialIntelligence"byNorvigandThrun[3].
ConsideringthedifferencesbetweenxMOOCandcMOOC[5];[15]andwithreferencetotheStanfordexperience[16],wechosetousexMOOCasthisformatpromotesateachingmodelemphasizing'cognitive-behavioral'whichhasmoreofatraditionalapproachtoonlinelearning.
ThecontentwasdesignedanddevelopedinSpanishinordertoreachalargeamountofSpanishspeakingparticipantsfromtheIberoamericanregion.
BothMOOCswerebuiltonthe.
LRNlearningmanagementsystemandutilizeddifferentcloud-basedlearningtools(seeTable2).
AnoverviewofthemainaspectsofthetwoMOOCsisprovidedinTable1.
MOOCLearningExperience(a)Introductiontoe-Learning(b)iPhoneDevelopmentLearningandinstructionalobjectivesUnderstandthee-Learningfundamentals,therelatedtechnologyconceptsandtools,andapplytheseknowledgebydesigningandcreatinganonlinecourseLearnhowtodevelopapplicationsfortheiOSplatformincludingiPhone,iPadandiPodTouchinternationalqualityanddevelopapplicationstotheAppStoreNumberoflearningunits4units(1unitperweek,4weeksintotal)15units(10weeksintotalforthecourse)CollaborationtypeNon-guideddiscussions.
QuestionandAnswers(Q/A)forums.
Non-guideddiscussions.
QuestionandAnswers(Q/A)forums.
AssessmenttypePeerassessmentPeerassessmentMOOCLearningExperience(a)Introductiontoe-Learning(b)iPhoneDevelopmentFinalproductCreateanOnlineCourseDevelopApplicationforiPhoneCourseofferedOctober2012June2012Tutors24MOOCpedagogicalapproachxMOOC(cognitive-behavioralteachingmodel)xMOOC(cognitive-behavioralteachingmodel)Table1.
GeneraldescriptionofMOOCsBasedonthexMOOCapproachofacognitive-behavioralteachingmodel,theMOOCslearningexperiencesweredesignedwithasemi-autonomousself-guidedandindividuallearningapproach.
Eachcoursewasorganizedwithasetoflearningunits,oneormoreunitsandtopicsforeachweek,andthecourseorganizationschedulewasonaweeklybasis.
Thisincludedlearningcontentandassignmentsaswellaspeerdiscussionandassessmentactivities.
Foreachtopic,shortvideosrepresentingthemainresourcesofthelearningcontentwererecordedforthelearners.
Complementaryreadingsofpre-selecteddocumentsandhyperlinksweremadeavailabletotheparticipants.
Giventhatbothcoursesrequiretheuseofsoftwareorlearningtoolsinthecloud,asetoftutorialvideosandwritteninstructionswerecreatedtosupportstudentstocompletetheirassignments.
Specialfocuswasgiventopeer-assessmentandonlinecollaborationthroughdiscussionforums.
Toovercometheproblemsoffragmentedcommunicationchannels,thecommunicationfacilitywasrestrictedtoonlyonetooltoensureasimplewayofcommunication.
Theonlinecollaborativeforumsfollowedagamification[11]approach.
Badgeswereusedaselectronicrewardsforstudentsbasedontheircontributionstothecourselearningcommunity.
Aquantitativemethodwasalsousedwhereasummativecoursevaluewasearnedbythestudent.
Thiswasbasedontheoverallcontributionandperformanceonquestionsaskedandanswered,theresponsivenessandthemostvaluablecontributionsbythestudents,allratedbythelearningcommunity.
Thissettingwasselectedwiththeintentiontoensurestudents'activeinvolvementandtoalsoovercometheissueoflurking.
Twotutorswereavailableforthee-LearningIntroductioncourseandfourtutorsforthe'iPhoneDevelopment'course.
Thedutiesofthetutorsincludemonitoringandhelpinglearnersthroughtheforums,raisingcommunityawarenessofkeyconcepts,askingcommonandcriticalquestions,andmakingsurethatthecommunicationflowsofthecontributions.
Thetutorsalsomoderatewhererequired.
Arubricwascreatedforeachlearningactivityandstudentsusedtherubrictoassesstheirpeers.
Tostudentshadtofirstofallcompletetheirownassignmentbeforeassignmentswererandomlychosenforablindpeer-assessmentprocess.
Theparticipationandthelevelofqualitycontributionsofthepeer-assessmentwerecountedtowardsthecoursegrading.
AtthebeginningofeachMOOC,anadaptionandintroductoryweekwasgiventostudentstofamiliarizethemselvestothelearningenvironmentandunderstandtheoverallcoursestructure,concepts,expectedperformanceandlearningactivities.
Thestudentswerealsorequiredtosetuptheirworkspaceathomeandobtainedtherequiredtools.
Everylearningunithadasetofinstructionalobjectivesandlearningactivities,andstudentswereexpectedtocompleteasetofassignments.
Allassignmentshadasummativevalue.
Themasteryoftheunitswasdeterminedbyasuccessfulcompletionofalltheassignmentsandpositivepeer-assessment.
Previousexperiencesonofferingonlinecoursestoalargescaleofaudienceandtheliteraturesupportedtheideaofusingalimitednumberofcloud-basedtoolsforlearningactivities.
Toensuretheeducationobjectivesandinteractionamongstudents-to-studentsandtutors-to-studentsweremet,onlyasetnumberoftoolswasallowedtocompletethelearningtask.
Theselectionofcloud-basedtoolswasbasedonthedigitalclassificationofBloom'staxonomy[1]whichdescribedamappingfromdifferentthinkingskillsorderstodigitaltools.
Tothis,weaddedtheinstructionalandlearningobjectiveswithlearningactivitiesandthecorrespondingcloud-basedlearningtools.
AsummaryofactivitiesandtoolsandtheapplicationintheMOOCsaregiveninTable2.
InstructionalObjectivesActivityandCloud-basedToolsMOOCsContentacquisitionVideosanddocumentsaccessby.
LRN1(a),(b)DemonstrateanunderstandingofunitcontentsSummarizeinawordprocessor(a),(b)StructureforknowledgerepresentationMind-mapcreationusingMindmeister2(a)CreatetheirownLMSBasicconfigurationatLMSinstanceatMilaulas3(a)Analyze,evaluate:organize,outline,structuretheconceptsofanLMS,thelearning-teachingprocess,criticallyevaluatedifferenttypesofLMSFirst,createamind-mapusingonemindmappingtool:Mindmeister,Cacoo4,Bubble.
us5Second,createapresentationandpublishusingSlideshare6(a)Create,analyze:outline,designandproduceonlinelearningunitsusingtheguidelinesprovidedforhighqualitye-learningcourses.
Mind-mapofstudent'sfirstlearningunitbuiltusingCacooandthencreateactuallearningunitfillingwordprocessortemplates.
LearningactivitiesdesignedandbuiltwithEducaplay7(a)Create,producetheonlinecoursebasedcontenttemplates,designandbuildanewintroductoryunitthatincludesawelcomevideo-message.
UsingtheLMSinstanceatMilaulas(a)BefamiliarwithobjectiveCprogramminglanguageandsyntaxandexploretheinitialXcodetemplatesthatareprovidedfordevelopment.
Learnhowtocreateproperties,classes,methods,objectsandseehowtheywork.
Comprehendthatthedatasourcemustrespondtoaspecificsetofmessages.
Recognizetheimportancetobeabletodefineasetofbehaviorthatisexpectedofanobjectinagivensituation.
Learntheframeworktodealwithlocationservices.
UsingiOSSoftwareDevelopmentKit(SDK8),XCode4OnlineOSXenvironmentfordevelopmentMacincloud9(forthosewhodidnothaveaMACtobeabletodevelop)OSXVirtualizationtorunoverWindowsOS.
(b)Table2:Instructionalactivitiesandcorrespondingactivitiesandtool1.
LRN(www.
dotlrn.
org);2Mindmister(http://www.
mindmeister.
com);3Milaulas(http://www.
milaulas.
com);4Cacoo(https://cacoo.
com/);5Bubble.
us(https://bubble.
us);6Slideshare(http://www.
slideshare.
net);7Educaplay(http://www.
educaplay.
com);8SDK(http://developer.
apple.
com/xcode/);9Macincloud(http://www.
macincloud.
com/)3.
MOOCsEnvironmentandLearningToolSupportBothMOOCslearningexperienceshadtheLMSasacentralaccesspointalthoughbothMOOCsreliedheavilyonexternaltoolsandsoftware.
TheLMSatGalileoUniversityisanextensionofthe.
LRNLMS[9].
NewrequirementshavearisentosupportaMOOCexperience.
Oneoftheinitialchallengeswastohavethecorrecthardwareresourcesandthecomputationaltuningtoscalewhenusagepeaks.
NewandcustomizedtemplateswererequiredfortheproposedstructureoftheMOOCs.
Thisincludedthelookandfeel,contentorganizationanduserinterfaces.
EachMOOChadanentrypagewherethecourseoutlinewaspresented.
Informationaboutenrolmentnumbersandstudents'countryoforiginwerealsoavailableonthesamepage.
Forpromotionalactivities,eachoftheMOOCshadaFacebookpagewhichcontainedinformationaboutthecourseandenrolment.
StudentswerealsoabletologinfromtheFacebookpage.
Figure1showsanexemplarofthehomepageof'IntroductiontoE-learning'MOOC.
Figure1.
Homepageofthe#IntroductiontoE-Learning$MOOCAsmentionedpreviously,thexMOOClearningapproachwasdesignedwithalimitednumberoftoolsperlearningactivityforboththecloud-basedtoolsandstandalonesoftware.
ThedevelopmentofthetwoMOOCsusingvariouscloud-basedandstandalonetoolsaredescribedasfollows.
AsaMaccomputerandtheOSXoperatingsystemisdeemedtobeexpensiveespeciallyindevelopingcountries,twoalternativesolutionswereconsideredforthe'iPhoneDevelopment'MOOC.
ThefirstoptionwastoenablealargeraudiencetoaccessMOOCwithanagreementwiththeserviceMacincloud,anonlineversionoftheOSX.
ThisenableduserstofullyusearealOSXinstallationoverabrowserinthecloud.
ThisapproachhadsomeperformanceissuesbecauseofthenetworkconnectivityandhighperformancepenaltiesofthecloudinfrastructureproviderrunningthevirtualOSXinstances.
ThesecondoptionwastorunavirtualmachinewithOSXthatwascapableofrunninginWindows.
Instructionsonhowtodothiswereprovidedtothestudents.
Studentswithnobackgroundonvirtualmachinesmayfindthisoptionachallenge.
Forthe'IntroductiontoE-learning'MOOC,thecloud-basedtoolsselectedwerenotintegratedinthe.
LRNLMSandtheinterfaceswerenotadapted,assuch,thetoolsrequiretheirownloginmanagement.
TheonlineforumstoolcalledOSQA(www.
osqa.
net)wasselectedasacollaborationtoolandthiswasbasedonreportedexperiencesoncomputersupportedcollaborativelearning[8]andthesuccessfuluseofthetoolatUdacity.
Thistoolhadproventechnicalscalabilityandwascapableofadministeringtoalargegroup.
TherewasalsoaseamlessintegrationbetweenLMSandOSQAwiththeOSQAhavingthesamelookandfeelastheLMS.
StudentsweremostlyunawarethatdifferentsystemswereusedandtheforumswerepresentednativelyintheLMS.
AnothervitalcomponentofOSQAwasthatithadadefaultfacilityforthegamificationapproach.
Forassessmentpurposes,arubricwascreatedtosupportpeer-assessment.
Oncethestudentshavesubmittedtheirownassignments,therubrictoolwillperformarandomselectionofoneormorepeers'assignmenttostarttheprocessofablindpeer-assessment.
Aftertheassessmentmarking,studentscanaccessthepeerassessmentresults.
Itisexpectedthatthepeer-assessmentprocesswillreinforcelearning.
Thetutorcanuseameanpeergradingoftheassignmentandalsomoderateaccordingly.
4.
MOOCExperiencesandDiscussionTheplanningoftheMOOCsinvolvedapromotionandenrolmentphaseofsome6weeks.
Followingthis,aweekwassetasidefororientationandfamiliarizationwiththetools.
Basicdemographicsinformationaboutthestudentswasalsocollectedduringthistime.
Forthoseenrolledinthe'Introductiontoe-Learning'course,moredetailedinformationwascollected.
Duringthecourse,studentsaccessedtheMOOCcontent,interactedwiththeirpeersandtutorsusingcollaborativeforumsandcompletedlearningactivitiesandassignmentsusingdifferenttools.
Studentsalsocarriedoutpeerassessment.
StudentswhohadsuccessfullycompletedtheMOOCswereaskedtoprovideanevaluationoftheMOOCsexperienceespeciallyintheareasofMOOCusability,motivationalandlearningaspectsandcommentsingeneral.
IntermsofthetwoMOOCsofferedatGalileoUniversity,thedescriptivestatisticsforthisareprovideinTable3.
Someselectedaspectsandpreliminaryfindingswillbediscussedintheremainderofthispaper.
AsshowninTable3,asafirstimpression,themeanoffinalgradesofstudentswhohadcompletedthecourseswassatisfactorilyhigh(88%and81%respectively).
Onthecontrary,thedropoutrateswerealsoveryhigh.
Thehighdropoutratesareconsistenttothosereportedintheliterature.
Thereweremoremalestudentsthanfemalestudents,inparticularthe'iPhoneDevelopment'MOOChadmoremalestudentsenrolledinthecourse.
However,itwasnotunexpectedtohavemoremalestudentsinthe'iPhoneDevelopment'course.
Thetutorscommentedthatthestudentshadcompletedalllearningactivities,accomplishedtheinstructionalobjectives,andacquiredtheknowledgeandskillscoveredintheMOOC.
Thestudentsalsoprovidedthefollowingpositivecomments,'thecoursecontentwasgreat,theteacher'sexplanationsveryclear.
Thiscoursedemandsalotoffreetimebutdefinitelyworthit','Ireallyenjoyedthelearningexperience,Ithinkthecontent,activitiesandmethodologyusedwereappropriate'.
Despitethis,therewerealsosomenegativecommentssuchas'[I]wouldhavelikedmorefeedbackaboutmyactivities'and'Thecourseshouldbemoreorganized'.
'Theuseoftheforumwasconfusing,thereweremanypostsandwasdifficulttofollow'and'Feedbackwasnotdirectlyfromtheteacher'.
Withthelastcomment,studentsmaynotbefamiliarwithpeer-assessmentanddidnotseethevalueofreceivingfeedbackfromtheirpeers.
Therewerealsocommentsingeneralsuchas'IlovedthecoursebecauseIlearnedtousenewtools'and'Ilikedthattheyprovideavarietyofresources,notjustPDF'.
Bynarrowingdowntolearningcontentaspectsandtoolssupport,thefollowinganalysisisprovided.
FollowingthexMOOCapproach,bothMOOCsreliedheavilyonvideosforcontentacquisition.
Astudentcommentedontheexperiencethat–'formeitwasverypracticaltolearnfromvideotutorials'andanotherstudentstatedthat'Ireallylikedthatthevideoswerenotsoextensive'.
Onthenegativeside,'Ibelievethatthetheoreticalexplanationonvideosshouldbemoreinteractiveoraddanimationstobeabitmoreattractive'and'insomevideostheaudioqualitywasnotverygood'.
(a)Introductiontoe-Learning(b)iPhoneDevelopmentRegisteredparticipants16805365Participantscompletedpre/post-questionnaire690/143-/74AgeM=39(%=11)N/AGenderFemale:739(43.
99%)Male:941(56.
01)%Female:621(11.
57%)Male:4744(88.
42%)CountryGuatemala(76.
60%)Spain(5.
11%)U.
S(3.
63%)Honduras(3.
09%)Mexico(2.
20%)Other(9.
04%).
Guatemala(72.
04%)Mexico(6.
13%)Spain(5.
44%)U.
S(4.
62%)Argentina(1.
73%)Other(10.
17%)StudentsParticipation:a)Didnotstartthecourseb)Withatleastoneloginc)Deliveredthefirsttaskd)Thatfinishedandpassdegreeofthecourse728(43.
33%)952(56.
66%)363(21.
60%)143(8.
50%)2383(44.
42%)2982(55.
58%)356(6.
63%)185(3.
44%)Finalgradesforpassdegreestudents(over100)M=88.
61(%=8.
36)M=81(%=18.
74)Forumactivities773questions/3511answers564questions/2401answers273peopleactiveinforums183peopleactiveinforumsPeer-assessment5learningactivitiesforpeer-assessment6assignmentsforpeer-assessmentVideoresources46Videos97VideosTable3.
MOOCsimplementationTheMOOCcoursesplacedanemphasison'learning-by-doing'tasksbyhands-onactivitieswithrealtoolsandcloudservicestopreparetheirskillsandknowledgeforreallifescenarios.
Forthe'Introductiontoe-Learning',videoswereusedtoprovideanoverviewofthecloud-basedtoolsthatwerenewtostudents.
Astudentcommentedthat'thevideo-tutorialsareveryhelpfultolearnhowtousethetools'whileanotherindicatedthat'thevideosareverymonotonous,[it]neededmorewrittendocumentation'.
Asforthe'iPhoneDevelopment'MOOC,thevideoswereprimarilytechnicalinnature(seeFigure2).
Astudentprovidedthefollowingfeedbackregardingthevideos,'thevideosweredifficulttosee,Iwouldlikedtouseyoutubeandthatwereadownloadableversionofthevideo.
'Withpeer-assessmentforthe'iPhoneDevelopment'MOOC,astudentfound'theevaluationoftheactivitieswasverysubjective,dependedonthecommitmentofthestudent[tobe]assessed'.
Thepurposeofcloud-basedtoolsinthe'Introductiontoe-Learning'wasforthelearningactivitiestoalignwiththeinstructionalobjectives.
Thisincludedconceptualdemonstration,structuredknowledgerepresentationandcompletionofassignments.
Theadditionalbenefitforstudentsincludedhowtolearntouseasetoffreetoolsthatcouldbeappliedfortheirownonlinecourses.
Thelearningactivitiesgradesfortheactivitieswere:1)M=83.
63,!
=15.
89;2)M=97.
25,!
=9.
56;3)M=88.
79,!
=15.
57;4)M=81.
99,!
=18.
27;5)M=92.
62,!
=17.
03.
Thisdemonstratedthatstudentswerenotonlyabletousethetools,buttheywerealsocapableofmeetingtheinstructionalobjectives.
Somestudentsclearlyagreedwiththeselectionoftoolsbasedonthefollowingcomments,'Ilikeditbecausetheyareeasytouseandfreeapps'and'Thetoolsusedareveryinteractive,easytolearnanduse'buthadsomeconcernssuchas'Notalltoolsarefree,andmanyincludesalotofads'.
Withthequestionsaboutcloud-basedtools,ina5pointLikertscalefromtotallydisagreetototallyagree,thestudentsindicatedthatwiththeMOOCs'Itwasfuntodoingthelearningactivities'withtheresultsbeingM=4.
37!
=0.
99,andforthestatementon'Ilikedtheideaofdoingtheselearningactivitiestorepresentknowledgeacquisition'resultinginaM=4.
67!
=0.
74.
Figure2.
AMOOCclassvideoof'iPhonedevelopment'Asforthegamificationexperiencewithmassivecollaborativeforums,theaccumulationofbadgesgaveasenseofcompetence,encouraginginputs;fosteringinteraction,andcreatingknowledgethroughsocialcollaboration.
Forthe'Introductiontoe-Learning'MOOC,thetop10mostactivestudentshadanaverageparticipationofM=24.
7fornewquestionsandM=109.
3foranswers,withatotalof31.
95%fortheoverallquestionsand31.
13%foranswers.
Forthe'iPhoneDevelopment'MOOC,thetop10studentshadanaverageofM=9.
9foraskingnewquestions,anaverageofM=52.
8forprovidinganswers,makingatotalof17.
55%forquestionsand21.
99%foranswers.
Fromtheabove,thereseemedtobeahighlevelofmotivationalthoughthenumberofquestionsandanswersfromthe'iPhoneDevelopment'studentswerenotablyfewerthatthe'Introductiontoe-Learning'groupofstudents.
Theparticipationinthe'iPhoneDevelopment'MOOCwaslowerthaninthe'Introductiontoe-Learning'MOOC;howeveritisworthnotingthattheinteractioninin'iPhoneDevelopment'wasmoreactive.
Afterreviewingandanalyzingthecollaborationmessagesforthe'iPhoneDevelopment'MOOC,itwasclearthatthehighlytechnicaltopicsrequiredmoreinteractionstogetthehelpandsupportrequiredforstudents.
Asthelevelofattritionthatoccurredinthecoursewasveryhigh,thestudentswhowereleftwereusuallymotivatedandwerekeentodowellinthecourse.
Thispositiveattitudeprovidedthestudentswithasenseof'communityofpractice'whoappreciatedandcommittedtoworkwithoneanother.
TherewerealsoproblemswithlearningintheMOOC,inparticularwherecommentsaboutthesameitemswererepeatedanddiscussedovermanytimes.
Thisisespeciallyproblematicwhereastudentcommentedthat,'theuseoftheforumwasconfusing,thereweremanypostsandwasdifficulttofollow'.
Thisdemonstratedalowlevelofindividualcapabilitytointeracteffectivelyinthesemassiveforums.
Thisisalsoanareaofresearchfocusonremixandfilteringoffeedback.
Followinginterviewswithsomestudents,itwasclearthatstudentswereoverwhelmedwithalargeamountofpostings,commentsandquestions.
Moderatingalargenumberofentriesmayalsoprovetobequitedifficultforthetutors.
Focusingontheassessmentaspects,therewasareasonablelevelofparticipation(M=2.
82for'Introductiontoe-Learning'andM=2.
96for'iPhoneDevelopment')onthenumberoftimesstudentperformedpeerassessmentsperassignment.
Anexampleofpositivemotivationrelatedtopeerassessmentcanbereportedbyastudentwhocompleted17peer-assessmentsforoneassignment(for'iPhoneDevelopment).
Itwasalsointerestingtonotethat49.
65%ofthecompleted'Introductiontoe-Learning'MOOCstudentsreportedthattheyalreadyhadsometypeofformalpeerassessmentexperience.
Usinga5pointLikertscale,fromtotallydisagreetototallyagree,theresponsefor"Forthepeerassessment,didyoufindthesystemeasytouse"returnedM=3.
97!
=1.
06forthestatement.
Someofthepositivecommentsfromparticipantsabouttheirpeerassessmentincluded,'Itisgratifying,alsohelpslearn'and'Itisveryrewardingbecauseitallowsitselftoassesstheperformanceofapeer'.
Onthenegativeside,participantsemphasizedthat'Iamnotconvincedatall,isokayareviewwithascorebypeersbuttherealscoremustcomefromthetutor',and'Therubricissubjective,toofewcriteriaforrealobjectivity'.
5.
SummaryandFutureWorkTheMOOCsexperiencespresentedinthisworkdemonstratedtwosuccessfulcourseswithahighenrolmentrate,andalsoahighdrop-outrate.
Wehaveidentifiedthatstudentswereinitiallyinterestedinthelearningopportunityasthetwoinnovativethematiccoursesfortheregionwerealsoavailableonlineatnocost.
Whilethefreenatureofthecoursesattractedabignumberofenrolledstudents,howeveramajorityofthesestudentsshowedalackofcommitment.
ThetwoMOOCsalsoidentifiedareasforimprovementespeciallywithpeerassessmentprocessesandbettermanagementofonlinecollaborationfordealingwithscalabilityoflargegroups.
HigherretentioninMOOCsisanotherevolvingresearchquestion.
Thecloud-basedtoolshaveshowngreatscalabilityinparticularwiththenewandinnovativefeatures.
However,interoperability,orchestrationandanalyticsofthetoolsremainanotherresearchareaforthiseducationalsetting.
FinalRemarkTheexperienceshighlightedabovemotivatedGalileoUniversitytocreateaninstitutionalinitiativecalled'Telescope'(http://telescopio.
galileo.
edu)withtheaimofsharingknowledgeintheSpanishspeakingregionandtoreachouttoalargelyunreachedpopulationsacrossseveralcountries.
Aspartofthecorporatesocialresponsibility,itistheaimofGalileoUniversitytoincreaseparticipationinscience,technology,engineeringandmathematics(STEM)bydeliveringadditionalMOOCsintheareasofphysics,mathematics,softwaredevelopmentande-education.
TheTelescopeinitiativeisexpectedtodeliveraround10MOOCsin2013.
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