What's the opposite of a MOOC?

Okay, friends in higher education. I am reaching out to you for a little help. As I am working on my capstone proposal, I need  a term for standard online courses. My study surrounds MOOCs. I need to distinguish between MOOCs and "traditional" online courses. (As if online courses are traditional.) The literature isn't really helping. An instructional designer from Vanderbilt (see http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2013/08/lessons-learned-from-vanderbilts-first-moocs/), reflecting on Vandy's first attempt with MOOCs, refers to "closed courses" and "traditional settings," but is referring to both the on-ground and online classrooms. A white paper published by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (available at http://agb.org/sites/agb.org/files/report_2013_MOOCs.pdf) refers to "traditional online learning" and "other forms of online education." Much of the literature I've read focuses strictly on MOOCs and does not attempt to make a distinction.

MOOCs, as most of us know, refer to "massive open online courses." The courses allow anyone to enroll with no fees, no participation requirements, and no prerequisites. Enrollment is not capped or limited (hence, "massive"). I need to differentiate between MOOCs and online courses that are commonly offered as part of a degree, with class size limitations, prerequisites, participation and completion requirements, and -- usually -- tuition. Would it be enough to call these simply "closed online courses"? The term "traditional" doesn't seem appropriate, given that we are talking about maybe 20 years in the scheme of thousands of years of higher education studies.

Thoughts? Suggestions? No pressure, but I'm trying to complete my revisions by Tuesday night. :) I've spent several hours reviewing literature again, and I'm still no closer to a term.

Get ready for BYOD!

The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend is one to watch. A recent Gartner report predicts that about half of all global companies will migrate to a BYOD policy over the next 4 to 5 years. The report also suggests many of those companies will no longer provide computing devices to employees (Kanaracus, 2013). This trend is clearly coming, but it's worth considering the implications from both sides.

Chief among those considerations is maintenance and security. For corporations, this means providing at least some level of support for a vast array of devices. Whether it's as simple as troubleshooting connectivity problems or more complex problems with operating systems or hardware failures, having employees using their own devices rather than a standard configuration increases demands on support. Virus prevention is another concern, although not as complex if the company chooses to push virus updates out to devices connecting to corporate resources. Security becomes a risk. Virus prevention is only part of the security picture. If employees are using their own devices and connecting to multiple networks with the same device, it opens the possibility that corporate data stored on a personal device can be compromised.

Cloud computing can solve some of the security concerns, of course. Storing and accessing resources in the cloud can limit the volume of corporate data stored on personal computing devices. Cloud computing still has a way to go, however, to be fully reliable for mass scale access. As cloud computing becomes more reliable and prevalent, some of the data access concerns will decrease.

From the personal standpoint, many employees may welcome the option to use their own device. Throughout my career, I've always been either a full-time or part-time consultant, and thus have kept my own technology updated. During times when I've been a captive employee, my personal computing devices have almost always been more high tech than what my employer offered. Still, using one's own device for the benefit of a captive employer raises concerns about mixing business and personal use on a single device. Employers should be concerned about this as well. Using a single device for both purposes can blur the lines between business and personal. Of course, productivity is really what matters, but employers need to ensure they have clear processes and metrics for gauging business accomplishments. From the personal side, concerns arise about allowing the employer to access the computing assets. Furthermore, the possibility exists that personal data could be lost if the employer decides to reconfigure a device for whatever reason. Again, cloud computing and regular backups can guard against this danger. Compensation for using a personal device is also a concern. A BYOD policy pushes responsibility for purchasing and maintaining computing assets onto the employee; employers must be prepared to offer at least some remuneration for this convenience (Kanaracus, 2013).

What is your opinion of BYOD? Do you have reservations about it? Or is your attitude, "Bring it on?"

Reference

Kanaracus, C. (2013, May 1). Half of companies will require BYOD by 2017, Gartner says. CIO. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/732649/Half_of_Companies_Will_Require_BYOD_By_2017_Gartner_Says

Thoughts on Opening the Learning Environment

In my work with online instructors, I keep hearing a lot of talk about using wikis and blogs "as they are intended to be used" or "they way they should be used." By that, the individuals are referring to the way we generally think about wikis and blogs: a wiki is a collaborative web space with potentially multiple contributors, and a blog is an individual journal-type site generally maintained by a single entity and facilitated as an ongoing conversation with readers.

These concepts have merit, but I've begun to wonder if we are restricting instructors, learners, and the knowledge-building process by trying to define these spaces. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if we should allow learners to make their own choices about which spaces to use rather than prescribing which space learners should use for an activity. Even if learners make the "wrong" choice (i.e., using a blog when the instructor believes a wiki would have been more appropriate), it would still present a learning opportunity (Parry, 2012). Perhaps it would even allow for the emergence of innovative uses for these spaces.

Of course, in a "traditional" online classroom, allowing such choice presents challenges for evaluation and grading. What is more important: demonstrating mastery of concepts or choosing the appropriate media for presentation? How do you evaluate mastery of concepts when various media are used for the same activity? Maybe allowing a more open forum for learners to demonstrate mastery will, by necessity, require a more open evaluation process. Now, I know that sounds blasphemous in light of all the work that has been done over the past century (nearly) to develop reliable methods of assessment. But an open evaluation process does not have to mean subjective, invalid, or unreliable. It means we have to rethink the evaluation criteria we establish and how we measure it.

I don't consider myself a particularly creative person. But I do know that when I've been challenged with having to make something work with limited or restricted resources, I've been able to find ways to exploit whatever technology I had available. Maybe that is the challenge we need to present to our learners. Instead of prescribing what tool to use, give them a task and allow them to leverage the tools available. Make the environment more open. While some learners might prefer more structure, others will run with the autonomy. In doing so, they may be able to aid or inspire the more reluctant learner. This shifts the paradigm of the learning environment from one of knowledge transmission to knowledge production, possibly improving the "stickiness" of the learning.

Thoughts? Is it our responsibility to direct learners to use technology "appropriately" or are we better off designing an open and autonomous environment that encourages exploration, collaboration, and knowledge construction? If so, how do we adapt assessment methods for the open environment?

Reference

Parry, M. (2012, March 7). Could many universities follow Borders Bookstores into oblivion? The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/could-many-universities-follow-borders-bookstores-into-oblivion/35711 

Is it fair to lurk?

I'm doing research on MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) right now. I've only participated in a few, but the concept intrigues me. My focus areas are instructional design and instructor activity. The literature on MOOCs is expanding, but much of it centers on individual experience in the MOOC. As researchers consider individual goals and motivations for participating in MOOCs, participant profiles begin to emerge. One participant type that was inevitable – at least in my opinion – is the lurker.

The lurker is present not only in MOOCs, but in any networked situation both face-to-face and online. You know the lurker. You've probably been the lurker; I have. In fact, I lurk a lot. I lurked in face-to-face situations. One time, my sister and I went to the dog track and decided to lurk to see if we could pick a few winners before actually placing a bet. We never did get comfortable enough to wager, so we just watched about 17 races. We felt kind of conspicuous after a while. Lurking online is much easier. Your name shows up on the participant list, but you just never contribute. Or you have a Twitter account and follow people, but never tweet. That kind of thing.

So what's the big deal with the lurker? Well, some authors see lurkers as "free-riders" (Tschofen & Mackness, 2012). In other words, lurkers take and don't give. Connected learning environments offer the ability for participants to interact and share knowledge (Mackness, Mak, & Williams, 2010). Such environments, in fact, rely on individual contributions and sharing for knowledge creation. According to Siemens (2010), lurking is never a good thing nor is it ever acceptable. Siemens believes that even newcomers to a situation should be sharing and helping to create understanding. He asserts that newcomers may be better positioned than experts to help other newcomers.

I don’t know about you, but that makes me uncomfortable. The last thing I want to do is reveal my ignorance in a public forum (although I wind up doing exactly that all too frequently). I like to look around, get comfortable, and see what's going on: how smart is everyone else? If they are too smart – meaning smarter than I am – I may decide just to hang out and absorb or perhaps leave the forum all together. It's unlikely my exposed ignorance will add much, and will likely only annoy the smart people. And online, people are none too shy about informing you of your ignorance, sometimes rather unpleasantly.

How do you feel? Is it fair to lurk in an open forum? Does everybody have an obligation to participate? Have you ever been a lurker yourself?

References

Mackness, J., Mak, S., & Williams, R. (2010). The ideals and reality of participating in a MOOC. In L. Dirckinck-Holmfeld, V. Hodgson, C. Jones, M. de Laat, D. McConnell, & T Ryberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning 2010. University of Lancaster, Lancaster (pp. 266-275). ISBN 9781862202252

Siemens, G. (2010, December 1). My personal learning network is the most awesome thing ever [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2010/12/01/my-personal-learning-network-is-the-most-awesomest-thing-ever/

Tschofen, C., & Mackness, J. (2012). Connectivism and dimensions of individual experience.  The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 13(1), 124-143.

Testing an Open Course

My home institution, like many, has immersed itself into the world of open courses. I'm participating in a beta test of the first open course. Rather than start yet another blog (since I already have 4 or 5), I thought TechMate would be ideal to serve as my test stomping grounds. We were instructed to create sections for the blog, but I'd rather not disrupt my existing setup. Therefore, I will add appropriate labels as needed.

If your tumble down the rabbit hole has landed you here, ignore this post. Read some of my other posts; they are fairly interesting (I hope). Leave a comment; nobody ever seems to comment. I'm guilty of that myself. That's one of the failures of most blogging attempts -- nobody comments. I wonder if it's because we are ashamed or embarrassed to proffer our opinions; if we think others won't value our thoughts or ideas; or if we are just not interested. Any thoughts on that? I think for many people, myself included, it's that we think others won't appreciate our insights. Am I wrong?