Tag: MOOCs

57% of students learn more from MOOCs than from lectures! – DRAFT of forthcoming book chapter

Learning, Networks

Here is a preview of the DRAFT version of the chapter to be published in Trends and Good Practices in Research and Teaching: A Spanish-English Collaboration, due for publication this year.

Responding to the Networked Student – the integration of MOOCs into on-campus HE modules-DRAFT

It reports on research conducted into two MOOC integration models. The research aimed to explore student attitudes towards MOOC integration for their learning and the impact MOOC integration has on student achievement.

Summary of Findings

The findings suggest that regardless of the integration model, students value the MOOC as a convenient, flexible and accessible way to study where and when they choose.

More importantly, the students report that the primary value of an integrated MOOC is that it helps them to understand the module content more deeply. This is due to a combination of the use of multimedia resources, the increased global and local opportunities to interact with a community of interested others, and the fact that it is not a lecture (57% of students reported learning more from MOOCs than from lectures – raising some interesting questions for HE teaching & learning!).

However, there remains a small number of students who, despite programmes of support, do not respond positively to MOOC integration, instead considering it to have little or no benefit to their learning or to be a waste of time.

The findings also indicate that while the Revision integration model led to a three percent increase in the module grade average (from 59% to 62%) and a doubling in the number of firsts awarded, the same was not the case for the Full Integration model.

This may have been due to the fact that inadequate account had been taken of the specific context of that module and insufficient MOOC and digital literacies support was provided. Equally, it may indicate that the integration model matters, with MOOCs being used to reinforce the learning gained during traditional face-to-face lectures being the most effective integration model.

 

As always – any comments, criticisms or collaborations welcome.

ICEM17 Conference, Naples

Learning

A wonderful visit to Naples in September 2017 for this excellent conference hosted by University Federica III saw us housed in a fabulous waterfront building brimming with classic Italian style and history.

Co-presenting with Dr Lisa Harris and Manuel Leon-Urrutia, we discussed some of our very early results from our investigations into the effectiveness of integrating MOOCs into on-campus modules. Here are the slides from that presentation:


Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below….

FutureLearn Academic Network event Exeter University Feb 2018

Learning

The latest FLAN event, hosted brilliantly by Exeter University and Dr Lisa Harris, on the 28th Feb 2018 featured many fascinating talks focused on the integration of MOOCs into mainstream HE teaching & learning.

Along with my colleague Manuel Leon-Urrutia, we presented some of the early findings of my research into the impact on teaching, learning and achievement of integrating MOOCs into on-campus modules. We presented three different models of integration, and concluded that students report that this blended approach allows for deeper understanding of the subject, more and better interaction opportunities and more flexible learning. The impact on teaching & learning appeared to be mainly positive.

However, the impact on achievement was more mixed, with module grade averages and the percentage of top grades being most positively affected when MOOCs were used to support face-to-face lectures as a revision tool.

You can view our slides here:


As always, feel free to share your thoughts on this in the comments below…