Comments on: Reflections of a mooc unvirgin http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/ A blog by Ryan Tracey Fri, 17 May 2013 01:13:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4995 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 23:19:13 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4995 Cheers Glenn, and thanks for sharing that article. I agree with its 3 takeaways.

]]> By: Glenn Martin http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4977 Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:23:00 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4977 Thanks, Ryan. I appreciated the article. MOOCs are coming in for discussion where I work. I also liked this blog about MOOCs: http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/the-mooc-honeymoon-is-over-three-takeaways-from-the-coursera-calamity/

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4860 Wed, 10 Apr 2013 23:30:03 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4860 @ Kevin Woodward – Cheers Kevin!

@ Anonymous – Thanks for shoring up my POV, Anonymous. While the instructors appear to have taken on participant feedback about their teaching approach, they oddly refer to it as the need to be more “in your face” – http://wp.me/p37boB-9f

To me, it’s not really about that; instead, it’s about providing more guidance, real-world examples, etc to maintain the link to daily practice.

]]> By: Anonymous http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4856 Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:38:34 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4856 So glad to see this review – EDC was my 2nd MOOC through Coursera and I did not enjoy it as much as the first. While I admired the creative use of multiple platforms, the course focus was way too theoretical (utopias/dystopias/what does it mean to be human?). I was hoping for more of a practical elearning experience, and ended up being more spectator than participant. The discussion forums/participant threads were the least useful part — for all the reasons you mention. Agree the instructors should take firmer control over discussion threads so they are not so … random. Tough to keep the herd from wandering. Anyway, thanks for your thoughtful and thorough exploration of the course.

]]> By: Kevin Woodward http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4855 Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:05:34 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4855 great article!

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4752 Wed, 27 Mar 2013 07:29:20 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4752 Thanks for your comments, Liz and Marion.

]]> By: Anonymous http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4751 Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:15:16 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4751 Thank you Ryan for yor reflections. I am doing H817open at the moment and experiencing the same with the online discussions. I think it is the fact that facilitators are taking a pick and mix attitude to MOOC pedagogies. Instructional content with connectivist discussion forums ( I.e letvthecparticipants get on with it) and as you say participants talking at each other and some of the posts are superfluous and trivial. I agree that MOO c discussions benefit from skilfull and constructivist facilitation.

Marion

]]> By: Liz http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4750 Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:23:35 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4750 Appreciated your post, Ryan. I had a similar MOOC adventure (Coursera: Economics of Obesity), and your summary helped me clarify some of my thoughts about the experience. I subsequently enrolled in the Spanish MOOC, but the 12-week commitment was too much for my unpredictable schedule.

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4734 Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:28:28 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4734 Thanks Paul, I’m glad to hear the etmooc was worthwhile. The two courses working as a paired set is a great idea.

]]> By: paulsignorelli http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4728 Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:47:12 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4728 Thoroughly enjoyed your observations; they mirror many of the positive experiences I’ve had in the Educational Technology & Media MOOC (#etmooc), which has left me with a deep appreciation of what massive open online courses can offer when they are well designed and well facilitated. Sounds as if the two courses would work well as a paired set; thanks for doing so much to draw attention to what you experienced.

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4705 Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:27:11 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4705 @ MP Cottengim – Hello fellow mooc unvirgin ;0)

Excellent point you raise, MP. A lot of people despise email, but I found the ones sent by the mooc coordinators before, during and after the course to be very helpful.

Love it or hate it, everyone reads their email!

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4704 Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:15:56 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4704 @ Sandra Sinfield – Cheers fellow EDCMOOCer!

It’s an excellent idea to expose the ed students to the themes of this mooc. It’s interesting how those students are doing a BA, wheres the students from Edinburgh were doing an MSc, because I think the nature of the mooc is more arts than science.

Either way, I agree with you that the themes give us a different lens through which to view education. This was certainly the case for myself.

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4703 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 23:57:42 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4703 @ senguptaphysics – Thank you, Kajal. I notice you are a physics teacher. Are you aware of the “How Things Work” mooc currently being delivered by the University of Virginia: https://www.coursera.org/#course/howthingswork1

And for yourself, “Exploring Quantum Physics” through the University of Maryland: https://www.coursera.org/#course/eqp

When I do my next mooc, I’ll be sure to blog about it. Cheers for your support!

]]> By: MP Cottengim http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4701 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:52:32 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4701 Great summary, Ryan. I agree with much of what you reported here in your blog. Another “pro” I thought #EDCMOOC offered was a series of preparatory emails itemizing the web applications we should become familiar with BEFORE the class actually began. I found those weeks of prep time to be very valuable and helped prevent me from being one of the lost souls you mentioned. These advance emails were just another example of how well organized both the course and instructors were. EDCMOOC was my first MOOC and turned out to be an excellent experience.

]]> By: Sandra Sinfield (@Danceswithcloud) http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4695 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 08:46:41 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4695 I was promoting MOOCs (because they are excitingly emerging right now) in general and #edcmooc in particular to a group of first year BA (Education Studies) students yesterday. They are going to be educators in a digital world – and that is the joy of our MOOC – it sets that thought-bot up. I do feel that the dystopia/utopia/big brother lens is a useful one not only to seed our thinking about e-learning – but to seed our thinking about education per se… I like your critique – though perhaps you are a bit harsh on the ‘parasites’ – in a class of 40,000+ we can afford a few non-contributors ;-)

]]> By: senguptaphysics http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4694 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:43:54 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4694 Thanks Ryan for sharing your journey through this EDMOOC. I have been following posts on MOOCs . There are critics and supporters and I was on the lookout for actual case studies- that is to hear it from someone who has gone through it. Your post gives such a balanced view that i think it is going to motivate a number of learners.Don’t forget to update when you take your next MOOC.

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4690 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 01:43:23 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4690 Thanks Guido.

Let me know when you produce your first song :0)

I’ve heard good things about Skillshare. I’ll give them a go…

Cheers,
Ryan

]]> By: Guido http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4687 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:17:28 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4687 Congrats, Ryan, sounds like a success!

“To be fair, the cons that I have listed above are not unique to the EDCMOOC, nor to online learning in general. I remember similar problems from my uni days on campus.”

That sums it up really. I’m not sure if your suggestions would change this as I’m pretty sure all your cons would still happen, in any setting, except maybe to a lesser extent.

I’m currently doing two music moocs with Coursera (music production and song writing), both via Berklee the quality of the instructions and assignments is astonishing.

Another thing I’m doing right now is a photography course through Skillshare. It’s a mini-MOOC that you generally pay for (~$20) and is instructor-led. No quizzes and the focus is on short courses that teach specific slills through projects. I really like the concept and it’s a nice alternative to the massiveness of the MOOC, plus I haven’t experienced any of the gripes you mentioned.

FYI: http://www.skillshare.com/A-Crash-Course-in-Photographic-Composition/884656564/1660210419/projects

]]> By: Ryan Tracey http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4683 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:07:03 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4683 Do it Fay, even if only to watch the videos. Well worth it.

]]> By: Fay Moore http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/2013/03/12/reflections-of-a-mooc-unvirgin/#comment-4678 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:50:54 +0000 http://ryan2point0.wordpress.com/?p=10222#comment-4678 Highly informative. You nearly tempt me to enroll today for the hell of it.

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