I have a colleague in London who says that a majority of students are quitting half way through her programs. massive open online course (MOOC's) have been popular with many academic but the jury appears to be out from the students' side of the story.
What is happening with African students?
Is there anyone in Africa running MOOC's
I have enrolled in various courses in research via MOOC's. It is interesting, flexible and self-paced. It stirs up fruitful global academic discussions among colleagues from different parts of the world. Yet, it requires dedication and hard work otherwise one may run at a loss, trial or lag behind in the academic training.
Few lecturers use this mode of teaching and learning in my institution. While assisting one lecturer in assessing the impacts during my Ph.D. studies in my university, there were great feedbacks from the students especially the postgraduate students who had to read taught courses but were saddled with work and family responsibilities.They appreciated the flexibility associated with the MOOC's and the academic forum discussions that aided them in discovering knowledge and the self-paced learning approach.
Thanks
Dickson Adom
Hi Graham,
I think it is such an interesting question. I don't run MOOC's, but I run online wellness and mindfulness courses in Australia and started offering heavily subsidised courses for professionals in Australia as people kept asking if I could run courses outside of the university system. One thing I found that has been an issue is student motivation. I have some students who fly through the courses and others who do not hardly get started. I think as the cost is so cheap they don't have the motivation to complete it that a student paying $3, 000 for a course would.
I read a bit on the link about African MOOCs and it seems that in Africa it gives people an opportunity to be educated that otherwise would not have the chance.
There is a Yogic model that predicts students motivation will impact their ability to learn and complete courses, which I quite like.
Look forward to reading more answers.
Nikki
Hello Graham,
I can recommend a couple of papers written by Suzan Koseoglu on the topic of MOOCs.
Hope they help.
Regards,
Heather
https://www.academia.edu/21833262/Teaching_Presence_in_MOOCs_Perspectives_and_Learning_Design_Strategies
https://www.academia.edu/21833247/Third_Spaces_of_Learning_in_Open_Courses_Findings_from_an_Interpretive_Case_Study
According to the question which has mentioned in the article of Suzan Koseoglu entitled (Teaching Presence in MOOCs: Perspectives and Learning Design Strategies), the question was discussing that (Despite the rapid growth of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in recent years, a fundamental question is still being debated widely in the education community: how to design and deliver MOOCsand move them away from the banking model of education (Freire, 1974),) I will add another challenges which is represented in the governmental boundaries against the the educational institutions who are offering the MOOCs and their intellectual and scientific sobriety.
One of the advantages of this system is the flexibility and the possibility of everyone joining it
But the main challenge remains whether this system will give the student the knowledge he needs or is just a profit-making business?
I agree with you perfectly Prof. Levin. It is quite true that certifications have usually been the driving agents for many people engaging in academic studies. However, this should not be so. Acquisition of knowledge is evident when the theories and concepts studied are implemented beneficially in any organization. That is why aside certifications as indicators of the academic parlor of scholars, I always recommend the undertaking of problem-solving activities to put to test the genuiness of the skills said to have been acquired by the student via certifications before any job placement. It will woow you that many students with good grades perform below average when they are assigned tasks that their certificates indicates they are experts.
I am advocating for a system of education that would place a premium not on the earning of grades usually after sitting for written examinations mainly as the mode of assessing learning outcomes of students. As much as the theoretical components are important, much emphasis should rather be placed on assessing how best learners can put the skills and knowledge accrued from the programme studied in more workable forms. This would aid learners in focusing mainly on their skill and knowledge acquisition and not merely for the honours of certification. That would deepen the essence of MOOC as a real avenue for grooming millions of people with the requisite skills and knowledge to aid in global development.
Thanks
Dickson Adom
MOOcs are running well in India. 10 percent of teaching in some Universities is through MOOCs.
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