H817Open reflections
My small MOOC open course, H817Open ends this week, so I thought I'd post some reflections on how it's gone.
I'll start by saying what my intentions were for it. The idea was to mix formal and informal learners (as it is one quarter of a Masters level course), to blend OERs and MOOCs (it is in the OpenLearn repository and exists after course end), to use an activity-based 'collaboration-lite' model and to adopt a range of technologies.
In general it went well, the learners seemed to enjoy it, although we saw the familiar drop-off of participation. It was only on a small scale so I don't think I can draw any big conclusions. I've summarised my thoughts in the slidedeck below, so won't repeat them here. If you have time I'd thoroughly recommend looking through the blog aggregator at the student contributions, they're fabulous.
I will say though that I'd do it again, and it's been one of the most engaging teaching experiences I've had for a long time, if also one of the most exhausting.
In an earlier post I said the puppy would get it if people didn't enjoy it. Suffice to say the puppy is alive and well, and that is as much as we can hope for:
7 Comments
Dkernohan
Any chance of a narrated version of this? Martin. This is a great resource and a useful set of reflections to share with others.
mweller
yeah, i was being laze and short of time – will do
Jillaclark
Not dropped off, just lagging behind and I will finish it. Hopefully there’s still time to get the last badge?
mweller
Hi Jill
yes, just sent out the email. I said I’d keep checking for badges for another 3 weeks or so, and the course content stays open indefinitely. I think a lot of people are in your position so drop-out is hard to gauge – I deliberately wanted it to be that way, so people could pace themselves.
Jillaclark
Thanks and sorry – post and email overlapped. Have enjoyed/am enjoying the course .. now back to Activity 20.
mweller
David – now with added dull monotone voice!
Linguafrankly.blogspot.com
Not that I’ve got anything against the dog, but I really didn’t enjoy the course.
If true knowledge rests in diversity of opinions, why did the course focus on one narrow set of opinions only, with some token disagreement, but no real alternative?