MOOCs

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Are MOOCs taking over

Just when I thought that everything was slowing down and there couldn’t be any more Digital MOOCs I have come up with another group that are about to start.

 

Mastering Academic Research                       Canvas Network

This is aimed at undergraduate students and those moving to Further education.  It seeks to help them understand the requirements of academic research and to give them the skills they will need.  This is very much what school and academic librarians do every day, so I look forward to seeing the methods used and what new things I can discover.

Web Accessibility MOOC for Educators

This course is also aimed at the higher education level and is for teachers.  It looks to increase their awareness of what is online and how sources can help them in their teaching.

Digital Me                                                         University of Derby

The idea behind this seems to be making members of the public aware of the digital world and how they should learn to use it safely.  I am hoping this is an extension to the Cyber security course that I undertook recently.

Parenting in the Digital Age

This one basically does what it says.  It is aimed to bring parents up to date with the digital world, so that they are aware of what their children do at school and outside of school.  It should also cover e-safety, which is a major concern for most parents,

All of these courses are from the provider called Canvas Network, although they are run by a range of universities and other academic institutions.  the first two are starting on the 6th July, then there is another later in the month and one in August.  What I have found with courses from this provider is that they really stretch the student.  The expectation is that you will take part in the discussion groups and there is a lot more in the way of assignments compared to some other providers.  I am beginning to find that MOOCs can be quite addictive.  It allows people to follow their interests and hobbies as well as giving young people the opportunity of testing whether they enjoy certain topics and if they could envisage studying it at undergraduate level.  I an sure that the concept will develop over the next few years and it will be interesting to see where it leads.

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MOOCS: What are they and how can they be used by schools?

MOOCS

What are they and how can they be used by schools?

Massive

Open

Online

Courses

Over the last few years there has been the development of these short introductory courses on a huge variety of subjects. Importantly these courses are FREE, although many do offer certificates for a small fee.  The courses tend to last anything from 3 to 10 weeks and the amount of time you spend each week can be as little as 2 hours.  However some courses do require a lot more input and if you are enjoying the course you may want to undertake more of the extra reading.

The providers tend to be groups of universities and professional bodies and it is fair to say that the majority are American or Canadian.  However, Futurelearn is a UK based consortium, with the Open University, University of Southampton and Leicester University among those providing courses.

The word massive is quite descriptive as there can be several thousand people taking a course.  It can be a very rewarding process as they are often from other nations and cultures, do not have English as their first language and, based on the courses I have done,  they are often working in education or information fields.

 

Main providers I know and have used are:

Futurelearn

This is based in the UK

“Web science” – how the web is changing the world

World in the time of Richard III

A series of short courses about various aspects of World War I

Coursera

E-learning and digital cultures

Foundations of Teaching,  part 1

Coursesites

Social Media for Active Learning

New librarianship    led by David Lankes who will be speaking at the Cilip conference in July? 2015

Canvas learning

  • Digital Literacy was a very good course, especially if you only use the very basics of Google and other digital sources
  • 30 days of  TED
  • Reading for understanding
  • Teaching Library research strategies
  • Introduction to Learning technologies

Iversity

Stonehenge

Openlearning

Flipped classroom (to do)

Mini-MOOC online privacy

Edx

Library Advocacy unshushed  

UCLeXtend 

Introduction to Digital Curation

 

 

Other online learning providers

ITunes University

A huge range of materials divided into age ranges and whether university providers or not

TED talks  This can be greatly helped by taking the Canvas MOOC “30 days of TED”  which really does help understand just what is available

HAY talks

 

Using MOOCs etc in the classroom.

Given the range and variety of courses available, I think it is fair to say that almost everyone will find a course covering a topic they are interested in.  Within a school or library environment the following needs may well need to be covered

  • Professional development for all staff

e.g. Flipped classrooms

Digital literacy

  • Taster courses in new subject areas.
  • Pre- university  trials for students
  • Make links with schools across the world
  • TED in particular is very useful because there are many inspirational and philosophical talks for all ages.

 

I would strongly suggest that you have a browse through some of these courses and see if you are interested in taking part when they are next run.  Perhaps the most reassuring element is that you don’t have to finish if you find the course is not right for you, and you have not spent any money.