scholarly journals Engagement in Learning in the Massive Open Online Course: Implications for Epistemic Practices and Development of Transformative Digital Agency with Pre- and In-Service Teachers in Norway

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-82
Author(s):  
I. Engeness ◽  
M. Nohr

This study examines how participants engage in learning in the Pedagogical Information and Communication Technology (ICTPED) Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) aimed to enhance Norwegian pre- and in-service teachers’ professional digital competence. The study also provides an insight into how participants’ engagement in learning in the ICTPED MOOC may have enhanced their transformative digital agency. Analyses of participants’ engagement in learning draw on P.Y. Galperin’s pedagogical theory. The data comprised 310 participants’ responses to the questionnaire administered to all pre- and in-service teachers engaged in the ICTPED MOOC in 2016—2019. Mixed methods were applied for data analyses by providing quantitative and qualitative evidence about the participants’ engagement in the course. Findings reveal that the majority of participants engaged in learning by reading the textual information embedded in the course. In doing so, they followed the sequential progression informed by the course design. Other participants engaged in learning by watching the videos and listening to the audio files embedded in the course as well as by attempting the assignments and other activities. By following these approaches, the participants created their individual learning trajectories and therefore may have enhanced their digital agency and affected the epistemic practices in the course.

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Engeness ◽  
Magnus Nohr ◽  
Ammar Bahadur Singh ◽  
Anders Mørch

This study examines how videos may support participants’ learning in the Information and Communication Technology Massive Open Online Course (ICTMOOC) aimed to develop digital skills with pre- and in-service teachers in Norway and provides an insight into how teachers’ interactions with videos may contribute to enhancing their agentic capacity to learn and transformative digital agency. Analyses of participants’ interactions with the videos are located in the cultural-historical theory and draw on Galperin’s conceptualisation of learning processes. The data consisted of 501 participants’ responses to the questionnaire administered to all pre- and in-service teachers engaged in the ICTMOOC in 2014–2018. Mixed methods were applied to analyse the data by providing quantitative and qualitative evidence about the processes of video use. Findings reveal the patterns of participants’ interactions with videos: (a) seeking explicit information about how to engage in learning; (b) seeking assistance while engaged with the assigned tasks; (c) support to compare learning outcomes with the requirements outlined in the videos. In doing so, the videos provided orienting, executive and controlling support and might have contributed to enhancing participants’ capacity to learn in digital environments and their transformative digital agency. The majority of participants used videos for executive support and the learners preferred videos in the range of 5–10 min. By providing these types of support by the videos, a learning activity carries a new function as a tool for studying the essence of learning in digital environments. These findings have implications for the design of videos in online courses. They also emphasise the crucial importance of awareness about the type of support videos provide to enhance participants’ learning in digital environments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-89
Author(s):  
A.B. Singh ◽  
I. Engeness

This study examines how course instructors facilitate students’ learning in the Pedagogical Information and Communication Technology (ICTPED) Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) aiming to develop professional digital competence in pre-service and in-service teachers in Norway. It also provides an insight into how students’ agentic engagement in learning may affect the course instructors’ guidance. Students’ online meetings with the course instructors and students were observed and recorded. The meetings aimed to develop students’ understanding of the examination assignment. The data (4.5 hours video recordings) analyzed by the method of interaction analysis revealed that the instructors performed four pedagogical functions: (1) setting up the learning process, (2) reifying students’ ideas;(3) assisting students in developing their conceptual understanding; and (4) summarizing and structuring students’ understanding about target concepts. These pedagogical functions evolved out of mutual collaboration of the instructors and students. The students’ agentic engagement in learning was visible when they took the initiative to explicitly share their ideas related to their examination assignment. Instructors’ agency in guiding came into play when addressing students’ ideas and questions emerged during the interaction process. Students’ agentic engagement in learning shaped the course instructors’ pedagogical functions and enhanced their agency. In doing so, the dialectical interplay between the students’ and course instructors’ agency comes to the fore as an essential aspect of learning and teaching in online environments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danish Mishra ◽  
Steve Cayzer ◽  
Tracey Madden

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of interactions between learners in a massive open online course (MOOC), particularly role of the tutors in such interactions. For educators concerned with sustainability literacy, the authors are necessarily both affected by, and effectors of, digital pedagogies. The call for papers for this special issue challenged the authors to consider whether digital pedagogies are “supportive of sustainability or perpetuators of unsustainability”. As might be expected, this question is not a simple binary choice and the authors have chosen to address it indirectly, by considering the nature of interaction in a global, digitally connected community of learners. In particular, the changing role of tutors in these communities, and the possible implications of this change on sustainable literacy, are examined. Design/methodology/approach The authors focus on the “Sustainability for Professionals” massive open online course (MOOC) delivered by the University of Bath on the FutureLearn platform which hosts the “Inside Cancer” MOOC, also from Bath. “Sustainability for Professionals” is pedagogically connectivist, with “Inside Cancer” being more traditional and instructor led. The authors used social network analysis (SNA) for the research. It is a key tool to understand interactions in an online environment and allows quantitative comparison between different networks and thus between courses. In the context of digital pedagogy, the authors used a number of relevant SNA metrics to carry out analysis of MOOC network structures. Findings It was found that MOOCs are different in their network structure but tend to adapt to the subject matter. Digital pedagogies for sustainability result in a qualitative as well as quantitative change in learning where course design affects the learning process and gatekeepers are critical for information flow. These gatekeepers are distinct from tutors in the network. In such a network, tutors’ role is limited to course delivery and verifying, depending on course content, the information within the network. The analysis shows that network learning is dependent on course design and content, and gatekeepers exercise influence over the information within the network. Originality/value This study has implications for sustainability literacy. The authors examined the extent to which patterns of interaction in the network affect the learning process, and how this can help participants engage with the concept of sustainability. They used SNA to explore the nature of interaction between learners in a MOOC, particularly the role of the tutors in mediating such interactions. They also found that tutors can and do take a central role in early runs of the MOOC; however, with the subsequent runs, the removal of tutor nodes has little effect, suggesting that different modes of learning driven by participants are possible in a MOOC community.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 01-09
Author(s):  
Hafiza Haron ◽  
Ahmad Rizal Mohd Yusof ◽  
Hafiza Samad ◽  
Noraini Ismail ◽  
Anis Juanita ◽  
...  

Naturally, MOOC or Massive Open Online Course is a course design for a distance learner. The platform which is provided by Open Learning is a course that's open anywhere as learner connected with all the equipment needed and of course the Internet speed is a major concern. The growth of the Internet and all sorts of devices such as computers, notebook, and tab has made learning more effective and fun for everyone. Thus, MOOC becomes a popular method of e-learning as it can provide the material of the course accessible by everybody, not only for a distance learner, but most of higher educational institution has taken for granted the benefit of these platforms. This paper attempted to discuss the definition and a brief history of MOOCs and observes it from various dimensions of issues: pedagogical, technological implementations and challenges in the digital era. Therefore, literature reviews on MOOCs model and characteristics, a timeline of its development and a practical concern with the involvement of well-known MOOCs providers are presented.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (S1) ◽  
pp. 55-56
Author(s):  
Nicole L. O’Dell ◽  
Eric Fredericksen ◽  
Sarah Peyre

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Translational Science 101 aims to: (1) Orient the public to the field of clinical and translational science; (2) Provide a brief overview of each phase of translation (T0-T4); (3) Provide real-world examples of clinical and translational researchers and research projects that have directly impacted patients; (4) Provide learners with information on how they can become involved in clinical and translational science through many different avenues (study volunteer, student, faculty member, or study coordinator). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The primary audience for Translational Science 101 is the general public and media outlets who are interested in learning more about clinical and translational science and how this research is improving population health. The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute created the course in order inform the public about the field of clinical and translational science, orient the public to the types of research that fall under the translational science umbrella, and demonstrate how translational research impacts populations. The Coursera Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform was selected to host the course in order promote the greatest level of exposure and also to expand the educational reach of the UR-CTSI to new external audiences. The course was constructed from scratch utilizing the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, an approach that is often utilized to guide the design and construction of asynchronous online coursework. CoI highlights the elements of social presence, cognitive presence and teaching presence as key factors impacting the educational experience learners have when enrolled in an online course. Discussion boards, embedded quizzes, and end of module quizzes were integrated in to the course design to promote learner engagement, collaborative learning, and interactions among learners. The “storytelling” instructional strategy is the backbone of the Introduction to Clinical Science modules, with various researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center explaining their lines of research and how the research impacts patients and communities. Educational research has shown that there are many benefits to including storytelling in instruction (Green, 2004; Geanellos, 1996), including: (1) Stories create interest: The narrative structure increases learner interest and engagement as they are drawn in to a good story. (2) Stories create a more personal link between the learner and the content: Storytelling allows exploration of shared lived experiences without the demands of practice and allows students to make connections between the shared experiences and their own previous experiences and knowledge. (3) Stories provide a structure for remembering course materials: The inclusion of stories facilitates remembering because it is easier to remember a story rather than a list of disparate facts, and stories evoke vivid mental images which are an excellent cue for recall. (4) Stories are a familiar and accessible form of sharing information: Storytelling aids in overall learner understanding as it is a nonthreatening way of sharing information. Storytelling can also enhance course discussions as students feel more at ease discussing a story than discussing abstract or new concepts that they are still in the process of mastering. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Introduction to Translational Science was launched on October 16, 2017, and is automatically scheduled to begin a new session every 3 weeks. To date the course has reported the following analytics: (1) 2308 learners have visited the course page, (a)476 learners have enrolled in the course; (b) 244 learners are currently active in the course; (c) 11 learners have completed all of the requirements of the course. (2)Learners by Continent, (a) North America 31%; (b) Asia 30%; (c) Europe 23%; (d) Africa 9%;(e) South America 5%; (f) Oceania 2%. (2) Learners by Country: Learners have come from 84 different countries from around the world. The 15 highest enrollment numbers are: (a) USA 25%, (b) India 11%, (c) Egypt 3.7%, (d) United Kingdom 3.4%, (e) Mexico 3.2%, (f) Brazil 2.8%, (g) China 2.8%, (h) Saudi Arabia 2.2%, (i) Spain 2.2%, (j) Germany 1.7%, (k) Russian Federation 1.7%, (l) Malaysia 1.5%, (m) Turkey 1.5%, (n) Italy 1.5%, and (o) Canada 1.5%. (3) Gender: 48% women and 50% men. (4) Age: (a) 13–17: 0.72%, (b) 18–24: 19.6%, (c) 25–34: 44%, (d) 35–44: 14.4%, (e) 45–54: 8.6%, (f) 55–64: 7.2%, (g) 65+: 3.6%. (5)Highest Education Level o Doctorate Degree: 17%; (a) Professional School Degree: 14%; (b) Master’s Degree: 31%; (c) Bachelor’s Degree: 27%; (d) Associate’s Degree: 2.3%; (e) Some College But No Degree: 4.5%; (f) High School Diploma: 3.8%; (g) Some High School: 0.75%. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform offers new, exciting opportunities for CTSA institutions to create courses and trainings that are accessible by learners all over the world. This greatly expands the educational reach that the CTSA education programs can have, moving beyond hub-focused or consortium-focused education to a much broader audience. The expansion of educational reach can promote increased visibility of the CTSA program, encourage collaborations amongst researchers at different institutions, and also inform the public about clinical and translational science, potentially fostering advancement opportunities.


Author(s):  
Hermano Carmo ◽  
Teresa Maia e Carmo

A sociedade contemporânea é marcada por três macrotendências que a identificam como uma sociedade singular na história humana: processo de mudança acelerada, desigualdade crescente e fibrilhação dos sistemas de poder. Tais tendências têm tido como efeitos um quadro de ameaças e oportunidades que tanto têm constituído gigantesco desafio aos sistemas educativos quanto configuram a urgência de ressocialização de todas as gerações vivas no sentido da construção de uma cidadania global. Nesse contexto, propõe-se um modelo que configura uma estratégia de educação para a cidadania, com dois eixos, quatro vertentes e dez áreas-chave. Seguidamente, descreve-se e discute-se a emergência quase explosiva dos Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) a partir de instituições de ensino superior internacionalmente reconhecidas, no quadro do novo paradigma digital, sua diversidade e seu potencial ainda em aberto. Confrontando a nova abordagem educativa com o modelo de educação para a cidadania proposto, conclui-se constituir um meio robusto para o potenciar.Palavras-chave:Conjuntura. Macrotendências. Educação para a cidadania. MOOC. Tecnologia educativa. Paradigma digital.Link: http://revista.ibict.br/inclusao/article/view/4171/3642


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s192-s193
Author(s):  
Florian Salm ◽  
Tobias Kramer ◽  
Cornelius Remschmidt ◽  
Petra Gastmeier ◽  
Sandra Schneider

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global health problem predominantly driven by overuse of antibiotics. In humans, most antibiotics are used outside the hospital. Overprescribing for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) is common despite clear guidelines. The need for further training of general practitioners is well known. Objective: To develop and evaluate a massive open online course (MOOC) on antibiotic therapy of common infectious diseases in general practice. Methods: A 4-week MOOC was developed on the basis of previous face-to-face trainings (platform, Hasso Plattner Institute for Digital Engineering) and was conducted 3 times between July 10, 2017, and May 31, 2019. The course was promoted through various general practitioner (GP) networks, local multipliers, and conferences and in the local trade press. In addition to epidemiological background information, the focus was on guideline-based diagnostics and treatment of ARI, side effects of antibiotics, correct drug selection, dosage and duration of indicated antibiotic therapy, as well as aspects of doctor–patient communication. Content included videos, self-tests, additional written material, and an optional exam. At the end of the course, participants were asked to complete a voluntary, anonymous online assessment questionnaire (LimeSurveyPro software). Usage data from the MOOC platform and data from the questionnaire were analyzed using IBM SPSS statistical software. Results: In total, 2,177 registered persons retrieved content (= learners). The proportion of learners dropped from 99.6% in week 1 to 40.7% in week 4. However, among those attending week 4, the average proportion of content used was still high (74.5%). Furthermore, 27.5% of learners completed the course, 23.8% took the exam, and 19.7% passed the exam. Moreover, 284 learners answered the assessment questionnaire (response rate, 13.0%); 62.3% were women, and the mean age was 45.9 years. Also, 225 participants (79.2%) stated that they were physicians; 122 of these worked as general practitioners (54.2% of physicians). Among the other physicians, 23% stated were in specialist training and 15.6% had a different specialist designation. The average overall rating of the course was 1.31 (1 = very good to 6 = not sufficient). General practitioners rated it slightly better than other physicians (1.23 vs 1.41). The clinical relevance was rated at 1.27 (GPs vs other physicians, 1.18 vs 1.35). For all scores, see Table 1. Conclusions: A massive open online course appears to be an appropriate format in which to deliver clinical relevant content concerning prudent antibiotic use in the outpatient setting. It is a good complement to existing face-to-face formats and helps to cover needs related to antibiotic training.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


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