Massive Open Online Courses:
For Continuing Professional Learning
Haydee Fuselier
Introduction
The central issues to obtaining professional development or continuing education for working professionals are cost, access, and time. These barriers have been obstacles to adult professionals struggling to continue their education; or broaden their skill sets. Meeting the needs of adults seeking to reach professional learning goals, distance classrooms provided solutions to longs standing constraints of stationary learning environments. The development of distance learning in the early 20th century, learning through correspondence where a teacher or professor interact from afar, was well fitted to the needs of increasingly busy adult professionals: it was mostly self-paced and accessible from home (Schulte, 2011). Compared to classes that required seat time, such as classes offered through institutionalized continuing education agency, distance learning provided comparatively less restrictions in the form of monetary and location limiters. Additionally, in most cases, distance learning was more self-paced than direct pace location-specific scenarios. (Buxton & De Muth 2012).
In the economic crisis of 2008, companies found paying for professional development more and more difficult. It seems certain that to provide costly professional continuing education would be of little concern to businesses attempting to maintain fiscal stability in a shifting
climate. While at the same time, professionals demonstrated an increase demand for free quality professional training to provide an advantage in the competitive job market. The atmosphere established by these two factors, compounded with the deluge of information as a result of the digital revolution, required that professionals forgo old practices of leaning set amounts of knowledge for the a specific career; but rather, commit to studying contentiously. As digital
communication became standard, distance learning via mail correspondence could no longer fill the needs of professional learning. Relevance in the work place required that professionals commit to continuous, quick, and quality digital learning opportunities.
Introduction of the MOOC
In 2008, distance learning was revolutionized when the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) was offered by George Siemens and Stephen Downs through Athabasca
University. The goal of this course was to offer quality education to the masses. Specifically, the class was offered to formal students register through Athabasca, and informal students
everywhere. Although MOOCs have been criticized for being verbose past the point of legitimacy MOOCs supporters argue that MOOCs provide quality and accessible learning
opportunities to working professional seeking to maintain relevance in an every malleable digital framework (Rhoades, Borden, & Toven-Lindsey, 2013). The MOOC learning environment offers opportunities for adult professionals to embrace a conventional hindrances to learning, enormous class sizes, as a component of a new type of 21st century learning. Most claims suggest that the significance of MOOCs to adult education is tremendous because by bringing what has been marketed as free quality instruction to the masses, the MOOC phenomena has transformed free digital distance learning into viable option for professional development and certified continuing education (Fini, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the MOOC ‘s digital format, introduce a new learning theory that supports MOOC’s process and framework,
provide an overview of two studies on MOOCs, and discuss implications of MOOCs to adult learning.
MOOC Format
“Massive” denotes the significance of the average class size. The first MOOC was 2200 and has grown to courses with as many as one hundred thousand students. “On-line” refers to the digital nature of the MOOC. Courses are hosted by large digital platforms often sponsored by a university. The three largest MOOC platforms associated with universities are Udacity,
Coursera, and edX. “Open” explains that MOOC participation is multi-national. “Course” represents the quality of the course; “course” is to be distinguished from training sessions, better equated with seminar and project based learning. As retrieved from Coursera, MOOC courses included topic categories from language courses, technology courses, and even courses
specifically marketed as “professional development.” MOOC platforms promote MOOCs as “college worthy courses.” MOOC’s transformed digital distance learning schema by opening the doors of virtual university classrooms to nonpaying students (John, 2012).
Since 2008, MOOC usage has grown substantially. MOOC host sites like Coursera claim to provide access to 300 free courses. Some courses offer sponsorship and are taught, by professors of universities. University sponsorship includes notable Universities such as Harvard and Berkeley. These free university quality classes have attracted a hundreds of thousands of students in a single class (Portmess, 2013).
Daphne Koeller, 2012, CEO of Coursera, illustrated a detailed description of the MOOC learning environment. She explains that the MOOC provides a unique educational experience. Concerned about the inability to provide feedback to thousands of class participants, MOOC host, Coursera created a peer-review process for subjectively graded work. MOOC participants are required to grade a certain number of their peer’s projects over a certain course. These peer-reviews are conducted using carefully constructed MOOC-tested rubrics. Rubrics that have evolved to best-fit the MOOC environment. Additionally, MOOC participants are subjected to close-ended assessments that are both scheduled, similar to traditional test, and embed in lecture. Embedded lecture assessment are created to mimic the direct-teach environment. Professors and instructors, less taxed with grading, are able to spend more time manipulating their lectures to respond to misconceptions and deficiencies presented by assessment results.
Because MOOC’s provide free, quality, flexible learning opportunities; adult learners make use of MOOC’s as a means of obtaining professional development certification. But to what end? What is the actual quality and flexibility of the MOOC? What are the certification and completion rates of these loosely regulated classrooms? Are MOOCs a valid option for adult learning?
A Learning Theory for the MOOC
The format for the MOOC is generally constructed as an interactive web platform. The class calendar and assignment list are usually accessible from the front page of the website. Calendar is a interactive syllabus with support resources embedded. Participants follow the
assignments and deadlines according to the instructions prompting. MOOC class size can be in the hundred of thousands, potentially thousands of participants interact in a single MOOC class. Most MOOCs provide chat-rooms or forums where participants may support each other in their leaning endeavors via commentary and assignment feedback. Instructor feedback is limited and sometimes automated via programming. This stimulus-response format where the teacher is the center of learning with little student-teacher interaction often earns the MOOC the “Behaviorist” learning theory label (Clara and Barbera, 2013).
The “Behaviorist” label for MOOCs has been recently challenges by a new learning theory that has been created and applied to the MOOC learning environment. Siemens (2005) argued that the knowledge necessary to be competitive in the digital age is vast and malleable. Learners are no longer prepared by learning a fixed amount of knowledge that they will apply and routinely recall for an entire lifetime and or to a single career. To be professionally competitive, Siemens appropriately points out that learning must be quick, continuous and knowledge base must be vast. Siemens furthered this definition by explaining that knowledge “half-life,” the time before knowledge has become obsolete, is becoming increasingly short. Seamans coined the term and learning theory “Connectivism,” in which he asserts that learning can and does occur based on external knowledge and experiences that learners seek and choose to connect with and incorporate into already existing knowledge (2005).
MOOCS and Connectivism
The forum aspect of the MOOC where learners can discuss their failures and successes provides an opportunity to learn and incorporate knowledge that is external to individual experience. This knowledge becomes incorporated into teacher-delivered information about specific MOOC topics. The students can adapt, and learn from what others have already
experienced and learned. Siemens 2005, compared this to the phenomena to the patterns of social insects such as ants which relay their discoveries of danger or reward to their nest communities. Individuals must not discover separately, but rather learn as part of a community by making connections.
Clara and Holman (2013) refute “Connectivsim” learning theory by arguing theory legitimacy. Argued that Connectivism as applied to MOOC usage failed to demonstrate a clear teacher-student growth relationship. They argue erroneously the goal of Connectivism as a explanation of learning 2.0 which was constructed to suit the new type of learning created by the Web 2.0 environment. It however seems certain that learning that occurs in such a vastly
different environment from traditional closed classrooms would most certainly warrant a new model for consuming and interpreting vast amounts of changing information. Furthermore, the feedback process alters the student-teacher relationship, but as the MOOC format requires learners to participate in a teacher directed peer review process, the teacher is playing the critically important role of driving learning through facilitation. Clearly, teachers are not necessary as the center of the learning process and peripheral role is possible. As long as participants are able to construct a contextualized definition of abstract terms and transfer that
student-constructed definition to a situation outside of the vacuum of the learning environment such as their professional lives, real learning has occurred (Brown, 1989).
Adult Learning and MOOCs
In 2009, Antoinio Fini conducted and analyzed a survey of MOOC participants in course entitled: Connectivism and Connective Knowledge Course (CCK08). He measured personal information such gender, age, and mother language. Completion rates and motivation for attending the class were also measured. Qualitative data such as feelings about MOOC experience were also analyzed. His findings based a survey sample of 83 respondents indicated that for that particular course, 47 participants were motivated to take the course for professional development purposes. Generally speaking, the course completion rate was less than 10%, but as the course was a semester long, it could be argued that even partial completion could yield value as professional development when compared to knowledge acquisition rates of traditional four to eight hour in-service type professional developments. Day programs and conferences often skim over, or introduce a topic or skill. The courses offered in the MOOC generalized format provide in-depth analyses of skills or guidance through project construction.
Distance learning has long been a seen as an option for professional development. MOOCs, a type of digital distance learning, could resolve some of the shortfalls of traditional distance learning. Like traditional distance learning that occurred via mail, MOOCs offer the low cost and flexibility of what was available by mail. Digital distance learning, MOOCs resolve the short-fall of lack of instructors quality (Malik, 2012). Many MOOCs are taught by industry
specialist; professors from notable universities. These courses such as the first MOOC, taught by Downs and Siemens through Athabasca University. With the exception of direct teacher
feedback, MOOCs provide participants same quality experience as formal class participants minus the traditional professor feedback.
Lack of instructor and professor feedback is the most frequent criticism of digital distance learning. This criticism may best be resolved through the lens of Connectivism. The forums and chatroom, virtual study rooms. associated with the class specific topic results in an extended understanding through peer support; learning by extension of the community. Most certainly a factor that was not available or supported in the traditional distant learning or digital learning environments. Including webinars.
For those who have internet access, the MOOC format is flexible. It provides learners with an opportunity to learn from the ease of their home or from the time flexibility of their lunch-break. It is particular valuable to those seeking professional development. Costless learning delivered by quality instructors makes for an attractive option for professional
development. This opportunity is attractive to both learners and employers hoping to capitalize on free skill acquisition and increased competency in the work place. This trend is quatinified in Fini 2009. Where most of the responded were adult learners; at or above the age of 28.Number one reason for not completing the MOOC was lack of time (Fini, 2009)
Current theories and research on MOOC’s indicate that the large number of MOOC participants are post-bachelor (Feldstein & Hill, 2013). This signifies that MOOC’s are being used by adult learners. In general, unless being utilized by a K-12 organization as a teaching delivery method, MOOCs could only be classified as an adult learning environment. As
demonstrated by Fini, 2009, Adult learners are using MOOC’s as methods of learning skills for their field or craft. This trend could ultimately lead to opportunity for craft-specific sponsorship or endorsement of specific MOOCs for continuing education. Potentially this could result in a trend towards uniformity in professions. Through MOOC facilitated dialogue participants could exchange ideas for best-practices in specific fields. One can generalize that the MOOC will become a clearinghouse for group learning and processing of increasingly abundant digitally delivered knowledge. This information share for professionals could allow, through social learned experience, for faster better-quality skill and knowledge acquisition (Siemens, 2005).
Recommendations and Conclusion
One suggestion would be to conduct further research by analyzing the cost of
certification programs available through MOOCs host sites and compare those offerings, teacher quality, and student retention rate to that of location based certification programs.
In order to better understand MOOCs as a means of professional development, let me recommend a professional needs assessment. By measuring the number and type of traditional professional developments offered through professional associations and mapping those
development. To tie this all together the low-cost accessible format of the MOOCS guarantees a strong future for the revolutionary learning environment as a method of obtaining professional development (Buxton, and De Muth 2012).
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