My First MOOC Experience: “Online Instruction for Open Educators” by World Wide Ed

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This manifesto, part of the MSc in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, was one of the readings for Module 1 and is from http://onlineteachingmanifesto.wordpress.com/ .  I don't necessarily agree with all of this, but it is food for thought.

Knowledge shared is collaboration dared.

  -- MOOC participant

I decided to take a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) for the first time to get some more perspective on the considerable media coverage we are seeing about this approach to education. 

I enrolled in “Online Instruction for Open Educators,” provided by World Wide Ed, a Canadian non-profit organization that has a mission to “Deliver well-designed and effective online courses and open education resources to diverse learners around the world.”  The academic advisory board includes Tony Bates, author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education.  The purpose of the course was “to help you build and improve your skill in online teaching.“

The course developed skills to:

• Lead online learning and facilitate a community of practice
• Apply current adult and distance learning theory to your teaching strategies
• Utilize a variety of online teaching tools, including open education resources
• Design engaging and effective online practice activities
• Network and collaborate more effectively with other educators

I attended the sessions I was interested in, and participated in the discussions and twitter feeds that were most relevant to my projects and needs.  Copious links to a wide array of resources and software that Canadian educators are actually using were posted.  I felt like a delegate at a conference when touring the site and participating in sessions and discussion forums.

The course was divided into six modules:

1.  Introduction to MOOCs
What is a MOOC?

2.  Theory and Practice, by Terry Anderson of Athabasca University
There was a fascinating discussion about Personal Learning Environments  (PLEs)
Look at this Grade 7 student’s PLE built using http://www.symbalooedu.com/ .

3.  Technology in Education

4.  Learning in Our Age of Abundance, by Dave Cormier, who has “the terrible burden of being the person who originally coined the term MOOC.”   He helped facilitate the very first MOOC with Stephen Downes and George Siemens.  Dave talked about how knowledge has been stored and conveyed in different modes throughout history:  First orally, then catechetically, then through textbooks (which may be going away for good), and now digitally.
Self-assessment and self-remediation
Learning in a time of abundance – historical background

5.  Building a Networked Identity

6.  Mixing it up and Putting it All Together-

Don’t miss the next free MOOCs offered by World Wide Ed!

Winter 2014:  Personal Learning Environments facilitated by Stephen Downes (one of the inventors of the MOOC concept)

Spring 2014:  Open Course Design Using Open Tools

Regards,
Michael
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