MOOCs without the M: Open Online Courses as an educational strategy for Opening up Education in smaller language areas

TY - GEN

T1 - MOOCs without the M

T2 - EADTU Conference 2015

AU - Bang, Jørgen

AU - Dalsgaard, Christian

AU - Kjær, Arne

AU - Donovan, Maria Margaret O

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - So far the success of MOOCs has been measured through two parameters. On the one hand the number of course participants counted in thousands or ten thousands, and on the other hand, the dropout rate. For small language areas (e.g. in the Nordic countries) the massiveness of MOOCs is hardly applicable or should at least be interpreted in much smaller numbers – even below 100 in several cases. But seen as an educational and pedagogical tool, Open Online Courses are highly relevant for further education and lifelong learning also within small language areas. Deeper analyses of the dropout problem shows that the more experienced the MOOC learners, the fewer drop out. This indicates that learning by MOOCs is not a skill one is born with but a capacity to be learned – hopefully, in the future, already in the school system. The obvious target groups for Open Online Courses are experienced and skilled learners. The courses should, as pointed out in the COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION “Opening up Education: Innovative teaching and learning for all through new Technologies and Open Educational sources” (European Commission, 2013) focus “more on what the learner is capable of doing rather than on the mere acquisition of information or on what the learner is capable of repeating”. In the paper we will discuss the pedagogical framework for Open Online Courses in smaller language areas integrating Open Educational Resources with learning activities. Furthermore, we will outline a possible business model for OOC in universities in small language areas.

AB - So far the success of MOOCs has been measured through two parameters. On the one hand the number of course participants counted in thousands or ten thousands, and on the other hand, the dropout rate. For small language areas (e.g. in the Nordic countries) the massiveness of MOOCs is hardly applicable or should at least be interpreted in much smaller numbers – even below 100 in several cases. But seen as an educational and pedagogical tool, Open Online Courses are highly relevant for further education and lifelong learning also within small language areas. Deeper analyses of the dropout problem shows that the more experienced the MOOC learners, the fewer drop out. This indicates that learning by MOOCs is not a skill one is born with but a capacity to be learned – hopefully, in the future, already in the school system. The obvious target groups for Open Online Courses are experienced and skilled learners. The courses should, as pointed out in the COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION “Opening up Education: Innovative teaching and learning for all through new Technologies and Open Educational sources” (European Commission, 2013) focus “more on what the learner is capable of doing rather than on the mere acquisition of information or on what the learner is capable of repeating”. In the paper we will discuss the pedagogical framework for Open Online Courses in smaller language areas integrating Open Educational Resources with learning activities. Furthermore, we will outline a possible business model for OOC in universities in small language areas.

KW - MOOC

KW - online education

KW - Open education

KW - MOOCs

KW - online learning

KW - Online education

M3 - Article in proceedings

SP - 39

EP - 55

BT - The Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference

PB - EADTU

CY - Hagen

Y2 - 29 October 2015 through 30 October 2015

ER -