MOOCs and ICT Education: Disruptive or Merely Distracting Computer Science and IT courses were the first MOOCs (massively open online courses) from Stanford and MIT and continue to dominate the online education disruption. Less than two years in, Udacity has announced a new focus on corporate and vocational training and Coursera is partnering with the World Bank to create courses relevant to the developing world. Although these MOOC providers keep redefining their mission, what if any lessons can ICT Educators at community colleges learn from this online education disruption? Join us for a discussion about how community colleges might develop and utilize MOOC courses and content. Hear early outcomes from colleges that have already engaged in MOOCs and their visions for future online interaction.

1. MOOCs and ICT Education:
Disruptive or Merely Distracting?
Una Daly, OpenCourseWare Consortium
Mid-Pacific ICT 2014 Conference
Image:The MOOC! The Movie by Giulia Forsythe CC BY-NC-SA
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2. Welcome
Una Daly
Community College Outreach Director
OpenCourseWare Consortium

3. Presentation Overview
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•
•
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MOOC and OER Overview
Context of Higher Ed
Research to date
Pedagogical Innovation or Disaster
Institutional Strategies
Conversation …

4. True or False?
• Tuition at public higher ed institutions
increased 40% in last decade
• MOOCs are open educational
resources that can be freely reused.
• Colleges do not give credit for
MOOCs
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5. OpenCourseWare Consortium
(founded MIT in 2001)
“Advance formal and informal learning through the
worldwide sharing and use of free, open, highquality education materials organized as courses.”
Over 280 institutions in 46 Countries

6. Open Educational Resources
(OER)
U.S. Dept. of Education
– Teaching, learning, and research
resources that reside in the public
domain or have been released under
an intellectual property license that
permits their free use or repurposing
by others.
cc-by donkyhotey/flickr
adapted from Judy Baker cc-by license
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7. What are MOOCs?
• Massive [ 1000’s of students]
• Online
[ registration, videos, quizzes,
social networking, assessment]
• Open
[ enrollment, content?]
• Course [ expert facilitators, credit? ]

8. 2012
NYTime’s Year of the MOOC

9. Higher Ed Context
• Tuition up 42% at public institutions in
last decade.
• Student debt now exceeds $1 trillion
• Average student debt upon
graduation is $27,000
Image: Student Loan,
Wikipedia

10. OER Huge and Growing …
OCWC
OER
YOU
TUBE
iTUNESu
• 280 Members
• Over 30,000
Courses
• Over 700,000
videos on
Education channel
• Over 500,000
courses/learning
materials
Adapted from Gary Matkin, Dean UCI, slideshare Evolution of Open 2013

11. 2013: First Half
• Huge growth in MOOCs & partners
• Credit options explored
• $7000 Masters of Computer Science
– Udacity partners with Georgia Tech, AT&T
• Gates Foundation Funds Research

12. Huge Growth
• Coursera:
– 70 partners institutions
– 10 U.S. state university systems.
• Udacity:
– Partners with San Jose State
• edX:
- Continues to partner with Bunker Hill Community
College in flipped classrooms
Image:The MOOC! The Movie by Giulia Forsythe CC BY-NC-SA

13. Credit Options
• ACE approves 6 MOOCs for credit
• Coursera introduces signature track
• UMUC, Georgia State, and Excelsior
• California SB 520 MOOC bill

14. Community College MOOCs
• Remedial MOOCs
– Basic Skills for Math, Reading,
– Prep for Placement Exams
• Pedagogical Innovations
– Competency-based, student paced
– Game-based strategies
– Flipped classroom models

15. Emerging Tech Cycle
Gartner Cycle, Wikipedia Commons, cc-by-sa

16. End of 2013:
“Trough of Disillusion”
• Completion rates dismal
– Udacity pivots to corporate training
• California legislation shelved
• Gates Foundation research
– results inconclusive
Image: Dragon Roller Coaster
thewamphyri cc-by-nc-nd

17. Community College Research
• Cuyahoga College
– gaming engages students
• Mount St. Jacinto
– requires lots of faculty mentors
• Wakefield College
– Expensive to develop and no clear
revenue

18. Community College
MOOCS & Pundits
• Gate Foundation
– Flipped classroom
• Steven Downes
– Open Access is key
– Hackathon as MOOC
– Certificates later
Image: Wikipedia, cc-by-sa

19. Next Step:
Slope of Enlightenment
• Innovation
• Expanding student access
• Attracting students
• Institutional Strategy
Uphill struggle, borkur.net cc-by

20. Innovation
• Profession Development
– Flipped classrooms
– MOOCs lead to SPOCs
• Faculty interested in MOOC learning
– Scottsdale College – Basic Arithmetic
– Hartnell College – Criminal Justice
– Seattle College – U.S. History
– Broward College – Reading, Math, Prep

21. Attracting New Students
• Beyond traditional college students
– overseas, workforce, high school
• University of California Irvine
– 12% of prospective undergrads and grad
students preview open curriculum
Adapted from Gary Matkin, Dean UCI, slideshare Evolution of Open 2013

22. Institutional Benefits
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Exposure and positioning
Serves current & attract new students
Empower faculty innovation
Identification as learning leader
Opportunity for public service
Opportunity for academic research
Adapted from Gary Matkin, Dean UCI, slideshare Evolution of Open 2013

23. Summary
• Are MOOCs here to stay?
• Have they changed the
conversation?
• What will be their lasting legacy?

24. Thank you for coming!!
• Questions?
• Contact Info:
Una Daly, unatdaly@ocwconsortium.org

25. CCCOER Mission
• Promote adoption of OER to enhance
teaching and learning
– Expand access to education
– Support professional development
– Advance community college mission
Funded by the William & Flora
Hewlett Foundation

26. 240+ Colleges
15 States & Provinces