OLDaily Text Edition ~ Dec 13, 2016

Stephen's Web ~ Link
OLDaily - Text Edition by Stephen Downes Dec 13, 2016
FutureLearn and Deakin University the first to offer range
of degrees delivered entirely on a MOOC platform
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The title above is of course the title the FutureLearn used
on its press release (as is my custom, my post titles
follow the article titles). But they should be advised that
something is a MOOC only if it is open. And these programs
are definitely not open - "Students will enrol for free in
a two-week ‘taster’ course. If they decide to
continue and become a degree student they will pay
£1,500 or AUD $2,600 for the equivalent of one
university subject. Each of these subjects will be made up
of a program of five short FutureLearn courses." It doesn't
say how many programs make up a degree, but never mind.
These courses are expensive. And it's not a MOOC platform
any more if you lock it up and charge people their
life savings for admission.
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Innovate Learning Review
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I just got a launch announcement for this zine in my email,
and the logo says it's still in beta, so I'm assuming the
sparse population of articles in the website will begin to
fill out a bit. The purpose of ILR is to provide "a curated
hub of the latest insight into the issues, practices,
research, ideas, discussion, and resources from innovative
learning professionals around the world." According to the
blurb it is "original as well as aggregated and curated in
content, crowdsourced with content recommendations [and]
interactive so content and dialogue flows both ways." So
we'll see. It's sponsored by AACE and SITE, and fronts
their publication portal LearnTechLib
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Strategic Plan 2016-18
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eCampus Ontario has just released its strategic plan for
2016-28 (21 page PDF
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It will be guided by four overall goals: enhance the
student learning experience, support faculty development,
enhance member capacity and participation, and build
eCampusOntario’s organizational capacity. hard to
argue with those. What I found interesting in the document
was the description of what students want. It's great that
they actually asked them. 90% "would choose online delivery
over in class because it "allows me to have control over
the time and place I learn."
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Internet Comments Are Awful. Could They Be Awesome?
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This article looks at some of the work in the online
comment space (also known as the Great Cesspool of the
Internet) offering "a mixture of technical innovation and
social incentives could make online comments
readable—and even engaging." For example, Civil
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taking ten deep breaths before picking a fight." Or the
Coral Project Linkwhich has a tool
called Ask for embeddable comments and feedback, as
supporting tools called Talk and Trust. Or the Engaging
News Project Linkwhich has an
embeddable quiz widget
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Or of course Disqus Linkwhich is used here
at OLDaily. Of course, these are all aimed at publishers,
and not really suitable for blogs or personal publications.
 
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Transforming the Value Proposition
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I think it's more than just American education that has
"lost the narrative" and I think it was in need of a
rethink Linkwell before
Trump. And I've also expressed my scepticism in the past
about the ability of the higher education sector to reform
itself. I continue to be sceptical. Higher education as a
whole, as Patricia McGuire says, "has been adrift in a
devolving eddy of self-pity, whining about overregulation
while obsessing about bracket placements and rankings,
pandering to political and philanthropic overlords while
remaining largely silent on the great social issues of our
times."
So what's needed? McGuire identifies three major areas of
change:
Expand access to college - "change the interior
circumstances of costs, culture, educational programs and
pathways that would enlarge the pipeline and ensure
success... focus on students and less on institutions."
Reform the cost-price structure - college is "entirely too
expensive for most people to bear, even with generous
financial aid" and "debt burdens are impossibly heavy."
Reclaim their voice - "the young [should] perceive
clearly where we elders stand
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on issues like human rights, world poverty and hunger, good
government, preserving the fragile ecosphere..."
These issues have all received priority in these pages.
As,  I believe, they should.
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Why Indian students drift to foreign universities
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This article should be an eye-opener for those arguing for
'traditional' education and pedagogy. It is precisely to
escape that model that Indian students head elsewhere for
their degrees. In India, "education is more theory-based
rather than practical thus creativity is not at all
encouraged. Education is based on rote-learning and is
exam-oriented... Education thus becomes a mere formality.
The acquisition of a degree does not equate with real
learning."  By contrast, "In foreign universities,
education is given and absorbed by practical measures.
There is more hands on experience and thus the learning
acquired is real and has depth... through research-oriented
assignments and project work. The aim is to make the
students independent and themselves responsible for their
learning." Yet it is surprising how many people in our
system argue for the former and not for the latter.
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Copyright 2016 Stephen Downes
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