CN1376 AcadMOOC
Stephen Downes
T -5 minutes
7:55 pm
Mary Zedeck
Hi Stephen!
7:55 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
Excellent. Almost midnight here.
7:55 pm
Susan Dixon
Aloha from Hawaii!
7:57 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
Hello from Manchester, UK!
7:59 pm
Stephen Downes
OK, I`m set - it has been ages since I`ve done a text chat
8:00 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
I feel like some kind of Mac vs. Windows
battle has been created with the cMOOC vs. the xMOOC. Is this useful or
harmful? (or does it just confuse & frighten newbies?)
8:01 pm
Stephen Downes
Mostly it just confuses newbies. It's not
really harmful, as the xMOOCs will gradually evolve to become more like
cMOOCs - witness Coursera's new 'teacher support' announcement today.
But it won't matter because the companies won't survive too long;
they'll most likely be acquired by Pearson o Blackboard
8:02 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
I'm not sure if the average MOOC participant(if there is such a thing) is even aware of this distinction?
8:03 pm
Stephen Downes
Probably not
8:03 pm
Caryn N
is cMOOC or xMOOC still an acronym?
8:03 pm
Caryn N
kind of confuses things a little, imho
8:03 pm
Stephen Downes
The experience of course is different, tho -
they certainly notice when they're in a cMOOC - but there isn't much
crossover from xMOOC to cMOOC, I don't think
8:03 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
there are plenty more in the acronym soup now
8:03 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
Are you currently teaching a MOOC?
8:04 pm
Stephen Downes
MOOC = 'Massive Open Online Course', cMOOC = 'connectivist MOOC', xMOOC = 'eXtended MOOC'
8:04 pm
Denise Kreiger
Stephen, when you say the "companies won't survive too long" are you talking about Coursera and Udacity?
8:04 pm
Stephen Downes
Not teaching one right now, maybe this fall
(buit with National Research Council's new mandate to serve business
only, it gets harder)
8:05 pm
Stephen Downes
Coursera and Udacity, yes
8:05 pm
Denise Kreiger
why do you think they won
8:05 pm
Denise Kreiger
won't survive?
8:05 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
because universities will take over?
8:05 pm
Stephen Downes
They're too small, they're too new and inexperienced, and the mainstream LMS companies have a huge advantage over them
8:06 pm
George Meghabghab
Are you saying edX will make it
8:06 pm
Denise Kreiger
But Ed-X is university -based, no?
8:06 pm
JH Shannon
the only universities with the resources to
do that are those with great research bases, more likely the big higher
Ed publishing houses will jump into the content development and perhaps
delivery side
8:06 pm
Stephen Downes
EdX has a better chance if it attracts an open source community, but there is the danger of it becoming niche, like Sakai
8:07 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
Isn't the signature track that Coursera is offering a valid long term monetization strategy?
8:07 pm
JH Shannon
sorry, resource bases
8:07 pm
Stephen Downes
MOOCs don't dfepend on content publishing -
that's one of the myths that the new MOOC companies propagate, that
MOOCs must be developed from the ground up at great cost - but in fact,
MOOCs arfe the ideal vehicle for using existing open educational
resources - just the way they linked to a bunch of my resources in this
chat area before the chat started
8:08 pm
Mary Zedeck
From your experience teaching MOOCs, what do
you think is the most difficult part for the instructor? And, what is
the most difficult part for the students?
8:08 pm
Stephen Downes
The signature track is Coursera's best bety - but it's too easy to commoditize
8:08 pm
Stephen Downes
Thinking...
8:09 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
about signature track http://blog.coursera.org/post/40080531667/signaturetrack
8:09 pm
Stephen Downes
For students, it is and always has been a combination of motivation and finding the time
8:09 pm
Stephen Downes
For instructors, it varies
8:10 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
Personally, I think many of the "issues"
academics have with MOOCs are ones that have been discussed about online
learning in generals for a few decades (such as academic integrity,
encouraging engagement) What are issues that are unique to MOOCs? I'm
thinking it's more about grades (peer grading etc.), credits...
8:10 pm
Stephen Downes
The xMOOCs demand a lot of instructor time as they make 80 or so 5 minute videos
8:10 pm
Stephen Downes
The cMOOCs can be crazy and chaotic and for
instructors the realization that they don't control the course can be
difficult to ddeal with
8:11 pm
Stephen Downes
For xMOOCs the issues are your
straightforward issues - quality control, keeping students interested
and active, assessment and credentials
8:12 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
cMOOCs demand a lot of effort from
participants to engage within the community. Do you foresee this as a
drawback from getting truly "massive" cMOOCs? Just not enough motivated
learners?
8:12 pm
Stephen Downes
cMOOCs don't worry about any of that, because
cMOOCs allow anyone to bring in resources, let participants choose
& select quality resources for themselves, support various degrees
of participation, and don't really worry about assessment
8:12 pm
Wendy Gilbert
This is my first MOOC -- and first "chat
class." My question is, we have been hearing about MOOCs for a few
years now -- why are they suddenly SO popular in the media?
8:13 pm
Stephen Downes
Anything tyhat demands effort will have
trouble attaining mass participation, but that's ok, the goasl isn't to
be massive (anything over 150 will work fine) the goal is to be open,
accessible and personal
8:13 pm
Wendy Gilbert
We are starting to use the phrase "I am 'MOOCed' out" because we are bombarded with articles about MOOCs.
8:14 pm
Denise Kreiger
When offering a MOOC 'for credit' (cMOOC or
xMOOC),' how do you offer a comparable quality learning experience for
students where their work will be evaluated to see if they've met the
outcomes = course credit? With thousands of students, it's difficult to
'manage' that many students and evaluate their work (including
discussion boards which are unwieldy) - and peer-evaluation does not
seem a comparable evaluation for course credit.
8:14 pm
Stephen Downes
They are suddenly so popular in the media because people with the right media contacts and PR departments launched some
8:14 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
The NY Times needed an end of year article for the education section and decided 2012 was "the year of the MOOC" ;-)
8:14 pm
Wendy Gilbert
Aha...
8:14 pm
George Meghabghab
A project based MOOC is the answer ( I am thinking in the sciences)
8:15 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
Project based MOOCs.. interesting.
8:15 pm
George Meghabghab
I am developing one for my college as a pilot. I am doing a project based MOOC.
8:16 pm
Stephen Downes
@Denise - even if I were teaching an xMOOC, I
wouldn't be trying to 'manage' students, or for that matter, much of
the learning process at all - because management at scale becomes either
inefficient (you tend to manage more poorly, because you don't know
individual people) or impossible (because you can't get to know that
many people)
8:16 pm
Caryn N
one of the MOOCs I took had a lab exercise, but it only used "household items" - it was very interesting!
8:16 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
I said up front that this "course" was not a
course but a Conversation with most of the trad course stuff left out
(assignments, grades...) Is that a use of MOOC platforms you see
occurring more?
8:17 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
I was thinking about the sciences as well...
most cMOOCs that I've looked at have been on education related topics,
attracting people largely within academia.. how will the cMOOC framework
translate to a science/math course that traditionally requires a lot of
"instruction" and "testing"? Really curious about this one.
8:18 pm
Denise Kreiger
@Stephen - then how do you offer MOOCs for course credit and have it be transferable-worthy to other colleges and universities?
8:18 pm
Stephen Downes
My own take on course credit is that it's
irrelevant. We have software now that can examine your work and
determine whether you are qualified. People will do more and more of
their work online. Over time, this will become mainstream. Course
credits and academic credentials will become pointless, as work
evaluation systems will examine your academic work directly, with each
employer using a different set of criteria, and assigning you a
different grade deopending on their needs and interests
8:18 pm
George Meghabghab
MOOCs are here to stay whether you play or not. The content is free on youtube, Khan's academy. You cannot just delete that.
8:18 pm
Stephen Downes
Lab exercises for MOOCs - there will be a long-term demand for physical learning facilities
8:19 pm
Rob Straby
Stephen, your thoughts about credit are
interesting, what do you think of the Mozilla Badge project? Is this a
viable or desirable option?
8:20 pm
Caryn N
re: physical learning facilities - that also
raises concerns about the "internationalization" of these MOOCs, yes?
iow, we might have great facilities in areas of the US, but that's not
necessarily true around the world
8:20 pm
Stephen Downes
Eg. I just learned yesterday how to make
cheese sauce using sodium citrate - but who keeps Spdium Citrate around?
Better to go to a fully stocked food preparation learning centre and
try it out ( http://www.chow.com/recipes/30493-perfectly-melting-cheese )
8:20 pm
George Meghabghab
edX offered a "hardware" course without labs. It was only electronic simulation. And very successful..
8:21 pm
Stephen Downes
@George - yes, the content is free. People
don't realize this. This was the basic insight behind cMOOCs, in 2008
(well, one of them). We realized we didn't have to 'design' a course, we
just needed to weave together a network of related resources. Which is,
after all, connectivism.
8:22 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
Generally potential students are confused by
all the MOOC providers - though they may only know the big 3. This also
happens with OER. Would it be helpful to have one aggregation point
for MOOC registration - or is that no "one world" monopolistic?
8:22 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
too "one world" monopolistic?
8:22 pm
Javier Benítez
Do you foresee learning analytics becoming more robust in assessing the learners in courses online?
8:22 pm
Stephen Downes
There's so much free content- there were
millions of resources before Khan, millions since. It's like poeople
have no idea. cMOOCs, once people realize how they're built, will become
mainstream, because they make use of existing content. (= no cost)
8:22 pm
Stephen Downes
@Rob I haven't pursued badges with any sort of vigour
8:23 pm
Mohamed Khadim
What's the difference between MOOC and the
flipped classroom.? Is it the sheer numbers? Or is it that there is
still physical contact with instructors and students in an actual
classroom ?
8:23 pm
Stephen Downes
@Caryn - I agree re:internationalization -
but the content and instruction have always been the really expensive
part, and MOOCs eliminate most of that cost
8:23 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
@Mohamed, I think flipped classrooms are a
more blended learning approach, with actual physical classes to
complement the online learning materials.
8:24 pm
Stephen Downes
@George - yeah, I've seen a lot of 'lab'
courses using simulations. That's one area for significant future
growth. Unfortunately, building sims is high overhead. It's a place
publishers will focus on, and generate good return.
8:24 pm
Susan Dixon
I always thought with all the FREE content ...why do we spend so much time re-inventing the wheel. We need a revolution!
8:25 pm
George Meghabghab
That is why Pearson is working with EdX.
8:26 pm
Stephen Downes
@Javier - learning analytics will be useful,
to a degree, but run squarely into privacy and security problems (eg.,
do you want people being trained for corporate or military learning
submitting their analytiocs to Google (or their subsidiary overseas)?
8:26 pm
Stephen Downes
In a MOOC, instructional activities take
place online (like today's event, for example). And they're open. In a
flipped classroom, instructional activities take place offline, in a
classroom, and they're closed.
8:27 pm
Susan Dixon
What is Grasshopper?
8:28 pm
Stephen Downes
@Susan - exactly. The *big* lesson people
*should* have learned from Khan is that the content can be pretty low
quality and still be useful. I watched a video today to repair my web
radio station - I had to set up a YP Hash - and it had no sound or
anything, and minimal guidance - but it was the quiclkest & most
effocient eway to address my problem
8:29 pm
Mary Zedeck
but you figured it out yourself - with no instruction from a teacher
8:29 pm
Stephen Downes
gRSShopper is software I authored in order to
support cMOOCs - I think it's the only cMOOC sofwtare that exists
(though people can use WordPress with some plugins to get some of the
effect, that's what ds106 does)
8:30 pm
JH Shannon
Then is not that the question vis-à-vis the
relationship between books and higher Ed, the differentiation between
higher level learning and simply figuring out how to do something?
8:30 pm
Stephen Downes
@Mary - I figured it out for myself, using
the video, with no teacher, yes. Which tells me that having a teacher
for this would have been inefficient.
8:31 pm
Javier Benítez
Besides having a set length of time, what are
the advantages of having a "course"? Can't we just put all the content
online and let people interact with it whenever they like? Thanks
8:31 pm
Mohamed Khadim
I think MOOCs can be quite useful from an
accessibility perspective once the student is able to overcome some of
the overwhelmingly technical barriers. For example not everyone may be
comfortable with a chat session and this creates barrier. How does one
approach differentiation from a technology perspective.
8:31 pm
Mary Zedeck
@Stephen, then why school?
8:31 pm
Rob Straby
Which plugins support a MOOC delivery in WordPress?
8:31 pm
Stephen Downes
@JH - a couple of things: first, formal
learning tends to be knowledge-oriented (deep enquiry, and all that),
while informal learning tends to be task-oriented (I need to know x to
do y)
8:32 pm
Susan Dixon
Sorry about spelling...gRSShopper....Funny how the articles I read a week ago etched in my brain as Grasshopper. ; )
8:32 pm
Stephen Downes
One of the things offering a *course* did was
to make the informal learning a bit less task-based, and to foster
reflection over a series of activities and events, promoting the deeper
form of learning
8:33 pm
Roz Hussin
@Stephen, have you seen any GOOD qualitative studies YET done on MOOC outcomes?
8:33 pm
Javier Benítez
is informal learning equivalent to tacit knowledge?
8:33 pm
Stephen Downes
@Mohamed - that was key for us - we set up
our MOOCs to allow people to participate with *any* online technology
they were comfortable with (in contrast to the platform-based xMOOCs,
which demand you adapt to their approach) - because people have
different issues with different tech
8:34 pm
Stephen Downes
@Rob the major one is FeedPress
8:34 pm
Stephen Downes
@Javier No, informal learning is not tacit
knowledge, though the two are often spoken of as the same thing -
informal learning is learning that takes place onm an occasional basis,
without a structure or plan, while tacit knowledge is knowledge that is
ineffable, that is, knowledge that cannot be expressed in language or
visual images
8:36 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
Mary posted a link to "I’m Still Confused as to Why Lecture Hall Classes Are Bad and xMOOCs Are Good? http://tinyurl.com/br83eu2 How would you answer that question?
8:36 pm
Javier Benítez
I think it's difficult to have people buy in
to the connectivist learning theory because they've depended so much on
textbooks for knowledge. what are the advantages you see in a
connectivist learning theory that's not present in others? thanks
8:36 pm
Stephen Downes
(Most of our knowledge is tacit knowledge,
very little of what we know is explicit and expressible - which is why
learning based on memory is insufficient, you miss most of what an
expert knows - and why part of the MOOC model (well, the cMOOC model) is
based on immersion into an authentic environment
8:37 pm
Stephen Downes
)
8:37 pm
Mohamed Khadim
Is there a worry that individuals with means
in the developing and third world countries may exploit the free
offering because they have access to computers and telecommunications
while an entire village may not. How does a university avoid potential
exploitation.
8:37 pm
Javier Benítez
I really like that about the cMOOC model
8:38 pm
Stephen Downes
@Kenneth Lecture Hall classes are bad because
they do not have the support of a major public relations campaign and
marketing; xMOOCs are 'good' because they do. (tongue-in-cheek)
8:38 pm
Roz Hussin
@Stephen - clarification on "qualitative
studies" - has anyone looked at the impact of MOOCs on how people have
changed their interaction style/efficiency after engaging in successful
cMOOCs?
8:38 pm
Stephen Downes
@Mohamed - yes there is - I remember when
OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) was first being launched, there was concern
that the wealthy people in the communities would steal the laptops from
the children and would use them for themselves
8:39 pm
Stephen Downes
@Mohamed - of course, this isn't just a
problem in the developing world - in North America the wealthy people
attend their own very expensive universities where they learn from
high-priced professors and forge a business network that will serve them
over a lifetime - giving them, for example, access to public relations
and media campaigns should they launch a new product or service
8:40 pm
Stephen Downes
@Roz good question - Rita Kop may have mentioned it, but I can't say for sure
8:41 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
There was an interesting paper by Rita Kop on the challenges of connectivist learning in MOOCs, worth a read. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/882
8:41 pm
Caryn N
The other concern with access is *internet*
access, correct? It's one thing to have a laptop, it's another to be
able to connect to a website with the bandwidth that's necessary to view
the videos
8:41 pm
George Meghabghab
And now these same universities are offering courses free to the public while only the rich and famous could afford them.
8:42 pm
JH Shannon
@Stephen what do you think will be the longer-term impact of hoax
8:42 pm
JH Shannon
MOOCs on higher ed
8:42 pm
Stephen Downes
@Geworge - yes, they give the courses away -
but people go to Yale or Stanfoprd (etc) not for the courses, but for
the social, business and political connections - you pay a lot of money
for that, and they're not giving *that* away
8:42 pm
Denise Kreiger
Having to do with the "Why Lecture Halls are
Bad; xMOOCs are Good" article, I have a concern about the instructional
design of MOOCs - if the lectures are chunked and moved online - the
MOOC can still resemble the traditional lecture-based model that we're
trying to move away from in universities - towards more engaging
student-centered learning. Looking at resources in a cMOOC doesn't make a
course 'engaging and collaborative with deep learning and critical
thinking' necessarily, does it?
8:43 pm
Roz Hussin
@Janesh Thanks
8:44 pm
Stephen Downes
@Caryn - internet access is a huge issue - I
just talked with a group of administrators working at University College
of the North, in Manitoba, where many communities don't have roads
connecting them to the outside world, where services are minimal, and
internet is onbly available by dial-up or sdatellite - it really changes
the dynamics - my thinking here was, focus on what makes MOOCs (cMOOCs,
at least) work - create mechanisms for creation and interaction, even
if you have to fly DVDs full of content back and forth
8:44 pm
Caryn N
that's an interesting idea - media on the fly!
8:45 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
@Stephen, based on the Kop paper I just
linked, she mentions the need for "critical literacies" to engage in
cMOOCs. While we're on the topic of the developing world (I come from
India), I can't imagine how learners from my country would actually
engage with cMOOCs, as the "instructivist" approach is so deeply
ingrained within the learning culture here. At the same time, if we look
at some of the data on xMOOCs, Indians make up the largest contingent
of learners (after the US/Britain).. any comment?
8:46 pm
Roz Hussin
@stephen - what is your opinion on the current LANGUAGE divide? that MOOCs only benefit the English speaking world right now?
8:46 pm
Stephen Downes
@Denise - you're exactly right - the
resources are not what make the MOOC (either cMOOC or xMOOC) and it is a
mistake to focus too much on them. I call them the McGuffin - the thing
that catches people's interest, and makes them want to follow the
story, but something inherently meaningless and interchangeable - what
makes a MOOC work are the connections and interactions - a community of
people working throught he ideas and conceptrs for themselves
8:46 pm
Javier Benítez
@Stephen is learning in a cMOOC just a display of understanding the content?
8:46 pm
George Meghabghab
You can use a translator and view the whole content in your language.
8:47 pm
Mohamed Khadim
@Stephen - perhaps a governance model may
emerge that will Address issues of access, hoax, quality, deep
instruction etc. or perhaps individual universities have already
developed governance and qualitative evaluation models.
8:47 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
@George, yes you can view the content, but can you actually participate? Surely learning is more than just viewing content.
8:47 pm
Maribel Pepe
Of course you have a good connection speed
help, but we have found that the most important is access to content,
students often go to a cyber if they have problems at home with Connect
8:48 pm
Stephen Downes
@Janesh - I've seen some evidence of the
deeply ingrained instructivist nature myself - I remember doing a
tywo-day seminar in Malaysia - the first day they all sat and waited for
me to teach them, the second day, my instruction to them was,
basically, 'teach yourselves' - I have them an assignment, a project,
and in groups they needed to work it out
8:48 pm
Susan Dixon
Stephen ... Are cMOOCs "Montessori Gone Wild" for big people? O_O
8:48 pm
Stephen Downes
MOOCs can have that effect - the 'critical
literacies' Kop talks about related to a course we taughht, where
participants are given the basic tools they need in order to learn for
themselves
8:49 pm
George Meghabghab
Montessori went free!!!!!!!!!!!
8:49 pm
Rob Straby
Stephen, your piece on Internet access is
key, access is a real issue in northern and rural Canada. I worked on a
hybrid project for northern communities, we used WordPress as it was
functional on a dial-up connection. I think we need to be sensitive to
the technology issues on the learner side.
8:49 pm
Roz Hussin
@Stephen and @Janesh - I am working on a
qualitative research project (in hope of) mapping out Connectivist
literacies needed for engaging in cMOOCs... Would you have any
advice/input? and/or better yet, can I contact you to get advice/input?
8:50 pm
Stephen Downes
> just a display of understanding the
content? No - unless you thing of 'understanding' very broadly - to me,
learning is *literally* the formation of a series of connections in the
brain, learning X is *literally* forming a set of connections such that
the cognitive capacities of a student of X are relevantly similar to
those of an expert in X, where relevant similarity can be measured
through a comparison of the totality of their interactions of
practitioners of X, artifacts having to do with X, and performance of
functoions related to X
8:51 pm
Denise Kreiger
How does a university offering MOOCs deal
with all the digital-divide issues on a global scale so that students
can communicate, access/view content, and 'create' content - not just
'consume'?
8:52 pm
Stephen Downes
> students often go to a cyber if they
have problems at home with Connect -- cybercafes are one of the world's
great invention - they are essential in many areas of the world (coffee
optional but nice)
8:52 pm
Javier Benítez
@Stephen thanks
8:52 pm
Maribel Pepe
@Stephen Thanks. As the number of participants in the MOOC, how many (number) of teachers or assistants must have?
8:52 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
@Roz, not sure if I can be of any help, but I'll do whatever I can janesh.sanzgiri@gmail.com
8:52 pm
George Meghabghab
Speaking of digital divide: Students own smartphones 2 to 1 compared to Faculty.
8:53 pm
Stephen Downes
@Rob, yes, I am sensitiv e - that's why for
example in addition to having live video chats, I broadcast an audio
feed on my radio station - because people using mobile phones can access
shoutcast and listen to the class, even if they don't have good
internet
8:53 pm
Stephen Downes
phew, was falling behind there
8:54 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
:)
8:54 pm
Denise Kreiger
:)
8:54 pm
Stephen Downes
@Marfibel, there's no number that I've
observed, we've always taught MOOCs with three or four people, plus
weekly guests, but I imagine it could be done with less (but there's
never really a reason to, there alwasys seems to be someone willing to
step up and help out)
8:55 pm
Maribel Pepe
@Stephen thanks
8:56 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
To be honest, I am quite sceptical about
cMOOCs being popular in India, it will require a major paradigm shift in
order to do so. In fact, most of the participants in the "xMOOCs" from
India can be attributed to the "big name universities" and the
additional line it might add to their CV.
8:56 pm
Stephen Downes
@Geworge - absoluetly, and they don't use
email or the web in anything like the numbers older people do - part of
the core design fro cMOOCs (but not xMOOCs) was to be platform-agnostic,
so we supported and encouraged people to use Twitter, Facebook,
Posterous, Tumbly, whatever
8:56 pm
Rob Straby
ShoutCast, great idea, I like how you adapt material so that it can be accessed in multiple sources!
8:57 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
It's great to read about pedagogical
innovations and experimentation such as connectivism, but this is quite a
long way from reaching fruition in the developing world, where access
to a basic education itself is always not granted.
8:57 pm
Stephen Downes
Hard to say Janesh - the people from India
I've spoken to have been enthusiastic - I take your point about the line
in the c.v. but at a certain point it becomes about what you know and
can do, not just your c.v.
8:58 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
Yes, I am just generally very pessimistic :-)
8:59 pm
Maribel Pepe
@Stephen How do we encourage participants to create learning networks?
8:59 pm
Susan Dixon
I tried to register for your course...It says the site is not open to new registrations. ???
8:59 pm
Stephen Downes
@Rob I use windows 'stereo mix' as my default
audio source for everything, put up with a little microphone echo in my
earphones, and stream out the same audio feed to Shoutcast, Hangout (or
Skype, or Elluminate, depending on what I'm suing), and Audacity (for
the recording)
9:00 pm
Stephen Downes
@Susan I'm not doing any courses right now, that's why
9:00 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
We are coming up to the one hour point and I
don't want Stephen to get trapped here - but anyone can stay and
continue this chat.
Last chance for questions?
Last chance for questions?
9:00 pm
Caryn N
It also seems like many of the courses that
have been developed are very university/intellectually minded (i.e.
physics, algebra, etc) - any idea why there aren't more practical MOOCs
(i.e. how to grow a really great crop, or organizing a grass-roots
movement, etc)
9:00 pm
Stephen Downes
But you don't need to register, all the materials (including videos and recordings) are available on the website
9:00 pm
Caryn N
I should have put "practical" in quotes...
9:01 pm
Rob Straby
@Janesh, I have Canadian students with
similar issues. I deliver a constructivist approach that I feel is in
between connectivist and instructivist models. The reflective projects
help to lead students in a more self directed way.
9:01 pm
Denise Kreiger
@Stephen - thank you!
9:01 pm
Susan Dixon
Thank you Stephen!!!
9:01 pm
Roz Hussin
@Maribel, in my humble opinion, based on
first hand experience watching learning networks start out strong, then
sizzle out, it isn;t about engaging or starting... the key is to SUSTAIN
the learning network...
9:01 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
Thankyou Stephen for taking time out to do this. And Kenneth for organizing :-)
9:01 pm
Roz Hussin
thanks for the chat
9:01 pm
Stephen Downes
@Caryn - because they're not needed - people
just Google what they need to know - if they want lessons, they just
search specifically for videos
9:01 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
It has been very active here - imagine if a few hundred people DID show up!
9:02 pm
Mary Zedeck
Thank you Stephen for joining us. Great discussion!
9:02 pm
George Meghabghab
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9:02 pm
Stephen Downes
@Rob interestingly I have the most problems
with teachers whjo are constructivists - they want my course to be
completely conmstructivist, but of course when people define their own
learning path, it isn';t
9:02 pm
Caryn N
Thanks, Stephen - your input is greatly appreciated!
9:02 pm
Stephen Downes
@Kenneth if a few hundred people showed up I
would have tyuped as many answers as I did today, but more people would
have read them :)
9:03 pm
Roz Hussin
Kenneth, I think some people got lost in the time zone difference...
9:03 pm
Janesh Sanzgiri
Glad I stayed up for this :)
9:03 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
@Stephen Yes, but 400 questions? Geeeez
9:03 pm
Stephen Downes
Thanks everyone, this has been a lot of fun -
can I ask the organizers whether there will be an archive of this chat
available in open access somewher?
9:03 pm
Roz Hussin
yes, archive would be GREAT!
9:04 pm
Mary Zedeck
I will create a chat archive and send it to you Stephen
9:04 pm
Stephen Downes
@Kenneth - the trick is to not feel oblicated to answer 400 questions, or even to read them all
9:04 pm
Stephen Downes
The expert is just one person in the conversation
9:04 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
we could post it - what do you think would be a good place for it?
9:04 pm
Roz Hussin
"the trick is to not feel oblicated to answer
400 questions, or even to read them all" .... this sounds like a MOOC
literacy too!
9:04 pm
Mohamed Khadim
Thanks folks. It was a good experience.
9:04 pm
Rob Straby
Thanks for your incredible insights Stephen, you have covered an incredible territory!
9:04 pm
Stephen Downes
I can post it on my blog
9:05 pm
9:05 pm
Mary Zedeck
And, post the chat archive in the course as well. Feel free to post it to you blog as well, Stephen.
9:05 pm
Kenneth Ronkowitz
@Roz MOOC aphorisms...
9:05 pm
Roz Hussin
Yes, Kenneth, we should start a dictionary for MOOCs
9:06 pm
Rob Straby
Thanks Kenneth!
9:06 pm
Roz Hussin
Kenneth, if you have a minute, may I engage in a chat with you?
9:06 pm
Maribel Pepe
@Roz thanks
9:06 pm
Roz Hussin
Thanks everyone! Wonderful questions! I enjoyed this so much!
9:06 pm
Stephen Downes
OK, archive is openly posted here: http://halfanhour.blogspot.ca/2013/05/cn1376-acadmooc.html
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