It’s
time to reflect on the last five weeks of my EDCMOOC with the University of
Edinburgh. I set out at the beginning to
learn what a MOOC is, how it worked, what it could do for me and for others as
a medium for learning. I thought at the
outset that the course “E-Learning and the Digital Space” would be appropriate
if only because of my work at Payserv managing an E-learning tool for the
staff.
I was further motivated to take
this particular course because of a recent experience in Johannesburg last
November where I attended an E-learning conference titled “Café Africa” and
hosted by LRMG – The Learning Resource and Management Group. I found Café Africa to be a ‘different’
experience from other conferences that I have attended – different in its use
of technology, different in the manner in which it was presented, different in
the manner in which delegates responded.
The most mind-blowing presentation was titled the SHEconomy and the
presenter, Natalie Maroun, a young South African director of LRMG, was
passionate about her ideas. The world
is changing, she told us, largely due to the advances in technology and
specifically, the advances in the social media – Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter,
WhatsApp and many other media tools. It
is also changing because of changes to people – people today are better
educated than yesteryear and women in particular have been elevated from being
the housewives and mothers of the 1950’s to the bread-winners, socialites and leaders of the 21st
century. No longer are women dependent
on a husband, no longer are women unable to choose whether to have children or
not. So they have moved and are moving
ever faster into the boardrooms of commerce and industry worldwide.
With
all this in mind I started on my MOOC.
We were provided with resources on a weekly basis and asked to view,
listen and read. Some were You-Tube or
Vimeo presentations, others were review documents or blogs from the – mostly – western world.
To
begin with I was gobsmacked. Part of my
problem was the slow download speeds of my internet connection at home. I upgraded with my service provider after the
first week to a faster download speed and greater volumes.
But
the real problem was the deluge of information to which I was being
subjected. The resources were one thing
but the Discussion Forums – the threads that were being generated by 42,000
students worldwide were another entirely.
At the beginning, I made a vain effort to read them all. From an estimated 3-5 hours per week, my
workload escalated to 25-30 hours a week.
By
Week Two I was a sleepless wreck. But
then it all changed – and for the better.
I
found a discussion forum for the ‘Over 60’s’ and I settled in to getting
involved with the other participants.
There were in all, about 30 of us from all over the world – the majority
Americans, Australians and Brits, but there were others from South America,
China and Europe.
In
Week Three I was invited to join a ‘Voice-Thread’ and although this made a
further dent in my time management, it was the best thing that happened to me
on the MOOC. I found myself in a
discussion forum with a dozen others – mostly in the USA, one from Australia, a
couple from Europe. Never having
experienced a Voice Thread this was technologically different, and to begin
with challenging. The conversations are
asynchronous – that is, they are recorded, saved and stored and viewed at a
later time. I did experience some
technical difficulties for a period where I could only record my comments on
the keyboard of my laptop but I overcame that and got involved with voice. The attitude of all the people on the Voice
Thread was one of cooperation. All my colleagues were open about their fears
and their thoughts. It was a very
satisfying new experience of almost magical proportions.
One
major worry for me at the outset was the fact that at the end of the MOOC I was
expected to present an ‘artefact’ to my peers.
Certain rules were applied to their submission –
·
“it
will contain a mixture of two or more of: text, image, sound, video, links.
·
it will be easy to access
and view online.
·
it will be stable enough to
be assessed for at least two weeks.
And
for the assessment criteria the requirements were: -
·
The artefact addresses one
or more themes for the course
·
The artefact suggests that
the author understands at least one key concept from the course
·
The artefact has something
to say about digital education
·
The choice of media is
appropriate for the message
·
The artefact stimulates a
reaction in you, as its audience, e.g. emotion, thinking, action
I
had no idea at all of how I was going to produce this artefact. I had no experience of the various tools on
the internet that we were advised were available – such things as Voicethread, Storify, Xtranormal, Pixton, Issuu, Storybird,
Weebly, Animoto, Prezi, Wikispaces, TedEd, Google Sites.
Not only did I lack experience of these tools, I’d never even
heard of them! The let out clause for me
was ‘or any blog, web space or wiki site’
I had a look at Prezi, Storify and Issuu. I registered on all three. I played around a little. I found Flickr. I discovered how to move photographs from my
mobile phone to my laptop and I posted some photographs on Flickr. I was in
business!
In the meantime the learning progressed and being able to
discuss ideas with my colleagues in the threads was a major motivational
factor.
We attended two Google Hangouts with the teaching staff from
Edinburgh. While these were instructive
they were not exactly ‘highlights’ in my MOOC experience.
By the time we got to the end of Week Three I had my artefact
in draft and in our Over 60’s thread we were passing them around for
review. What a great way it was to learn
more and to gain some confidence.
Posting the artefact to Edinburgh was, in the end, a simple
process and then later reviewing the work of my peers was enjoyable but equally
it was disappointing. I was able to ‘pass’
one of my peers but not the other two who quite simply failed to meet the
criteria laid down by Edinburgh. I
looked at two more artefacts and these were both very well presented.
Now at the end, I am just a little disappointed that it is all
over. Attending this EDCMOOC has been a
most enjoyable, even exciting learning experience. It is without doubt the most enjoyable
learning experience of my life. First
because I have learned something new about humanity and the digital space,
secondly because I have experienced an interaction between humanity (me and my
colleagues on the threads) and the digital space. I have discovered – although I probably knew
it before but now it has been solidified in my mind and my being – that successful
learning is about ‘fun’ and human interaction.
Take one of those away and there isn’t much chance of success. Take them both away and there is no chance!
As for the MOOC. Will
I recommend it to others? You bet I will. Some constraints of course; the MOOC must be
relevant to the learner – relevant to his or her work, or if not to work then
to a lifetime goal; the learner must be able to devote the time – an estimated
3-5 hours a week is just not a correct estimate. I could probably have managed on 3-5 hours a
week without the human interaction. But
the human interaction is, as I have said before, essential. I am willing to bet my boots that the two
artefacts that I found inadequate were presented by people who did not
interact.
Learning has undergone a revolution. There are clearly hundreds of thousands,
perhaps millions of people who are going to learn through the MOOC experience
in the coming months and years. Learning
will never be the same again.
Educationalists are clearly endorsing the medium of the MOOC. Those that don’t will cease to exist. Not right now but eventually.
A great write up for what looks like a great course ~ nice one Dave :)
ReplyDeleteI think I was the one who "passed" you. I don't know the reasons the other two have failed you. What were the reasons? I'm curious...
ReplyDeleteI've used prezi and here it is just in case you are curious to see:
http://prezi.com/oak1oebvvkll/e-learning-and-digital-cultures/
Cheers,
Fernando
Hi Fernando - no-body failed me! Not sure where you got that idea? Looked at your Prezi - excellent
DeleteOh, sorry Dave! I misunderstood you. You were the one who said two of your peers failed to meet criterias. I understood the other way round.
ReplyDelete