Are there suggestions to make differentiation for learners? What principles or learning theories are used when designing MOOCs? Would there be any differences in design for science / humanity / business disciplines?
Paula:
You aim for much engagement in your online pedagogy to include making the content material relevant to the students to include their diverse cultural and international backgrounds. I have attached a few articles that can help to further illustrate this point.
many thanks,
Debra
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I would also suggest that (especially since MOOCs may have international diversity) that criteria for assessment be carefully scrutinized for cultural bias. Have you ever read Gay, Geneva. Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press, 2010? Some of the research she describes - even in writing style, differences in expectations/norms of group interaction, etc. would shed light on your question. The insights and findings are far too numerous to mention here. While Gay focuses on culture, many of the issues she uncovers are relevant to other identity categories of diversity. Hope that helps!
THANKS to Debra and Laura in highlighting the cultural aspect when designing MOOCs. Sensitivity to diverse culture is essential. However, is there any design principles relating to disciplinary differences, i.e. learning with converging and diverging perspectives.
Dear Paula,
The disruptive technologies point to active methodologies to teaching learning.
The flipped classroom, the Maguerez arch, the problem based learning are some pedagogical alternatives to massive online courses.
@Paula
The design principles I have used stem not from cultural persuasions because I believe that culture still groups/categorises people based on assumed common behaviours, when in fact, people from a specific culture may not all act the same. I've studied and used individual differences (Jonassen and Grabowski, 2012) to design environments. One of my research outlets focusses specifically on cognitive constructs (field dependence/independence) as is used with online environments. For example, how does placing a file to the left in a LMS increase access or even usage than placing it on the right - or vice versa. It also allows you to draw the differences based on the contextual design associated with the course (i.e. pedagogical design) because I don't believe that all courses should look alike. Courses should be designed based on the effort needed to draw the appropriate meaning for the learner.
Reference
Jonassen, D. H., & Grabowski, B. L. (2012). Handbook of individual differences, learning, and instruction. Routledge.
THANKS Claudia.
Flipped classroom has been widely known to enhance learning experiences in conventional courses, i.e. classroom-based. Problem-based learning and the Maguerez's Arch are approaches that require a dialogical approach in the teaching and learning process. While many MOOCs are designed with structured content coverage and minimum teacher-student interactions, these approaches cannot be applied to MOOCs. Appreciate your suggestions and ideas.
Paula
THANKS Camille.
The interface design of the platform is important. You may find different interface design in edX, Coursera and FutureLearn. While there is no single pedagogical design, it would be interesting to explore the variation in the design principles in different disciplines.
Dear Stefan,
Different systems created through technology provide difference types of learning experiences. While we have different teaching methodologies in traditional teaching, there are implications on how we design the online systems. The question raised is not to find ONE common pedagogy, but explore the variations in pedagogies for teaching in different disciplines.
BEST regards,
Paula
Dear Stefan,
As it is experiential and experimental for almost four years, this is a good time for educators, system designers to review practices and explore alternative effective learning experiences ;-)
Recently, there are specialization in Coursera and Xseries edX to encourage a continuation of learning through MOOCs.
I am looking forward to learning more how disciplines designing MOOCs.
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