Education Commons^™

Learning Together In Public And In Private: Exploring Learner Interactions And Engagement In A Blended-Platform Mooc Environment, Arianna Montero-Colbert, Natalie Delia Deckard, Bonnie Stewart, Sundi Richard, Alexa Nanan

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

With the growing popularity of connectivist MOOCs, the aim of facilitators has increasingly shifted from helping students meet completion-oriented goals to encouraging meaningful engagement among participants. In this paper, we study the relationship between platform of engagement and learner participation, controlling for relevant demographic factors of participants including gender, age, and level of education attained. Our study employs four distinct measures of participatory engagement: autonomous learning, knowledge reproduction, information networking, and scholarly engagement. We find that on the public platform of Twitter, participants were more likely to exhibit meaningful engagement patterns across all measures studied than they were on the …

Supportive Technologies For Group Discussion In Moocs, Carolyn P. Rosé, Pam Goldman, Jennifer Zoltners Sherer, Lauren Resnick

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

A key hurdle that prevents MOOCs from reaching their transformative potential in terms of making valuable learning experiences available to the masses is providing support for students to make use of the resources they can provide for each other. This paper lays the foundation for meeting this challenge by beginning with a case study and computational modeling of social interaction data. The analysis yields new knowledge that informs design and development of novel, real-time support for building healthy learning communities that foster a high level of engagement and learning. We conclude by suggesting specific areas for potential impact of new …

Highjacking The Mooc: Reflections On Creating/Teaching An Art History Mooc, Parme Giuntini, Jean-Marie Venturini

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This article reflects on the experience of creating and launching a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) at Otis College of Art and Design. The authors will discuss the development process from content, goals and production to curriculum design and pedagogy. Lessons learned and best practices will be shared as well as assessment of the MOOC’s success. Suggestions will be offered for faculty who are interested in adapting and adopting (hijacking) MOOCs in conjunction with credit courses in their own institutions, and addresses the very practical faculty concerns that MOOCs pose.

Dewey, Desi, And Dec: Exploring The Educational Philosophy Of Indian Open, Online, And Distance Education, Dennis Maxey

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This paper explores pedagogical underpinnings of current Indian open, online, and distance education. Tracing the history of national and cultural adherence to the precepts of American educational theorist and philosopher, John Dewey, the paper notes the Deweyesk perspective has not translated into constructivist distance educational practices. The work surveys the history of distance education in India, and reviews literature in the field produced by Indian academics, whose recent reports suggest that online education may be transforming Indian educational philosophy, bringing a more constructivist approach to teaching on the sub-continent.

The paper is organized into the following sections:

• A brief history …