0.4 Interesting examples of Technology Enhanced Learning

"Explore the resources on Technology Enhanced Learning ... and identify examples of TEL that you find interesting and why."

What is a MOOC?

Video (4.5 minutes) by Dave Cormier (University of Prince Edward Island, 2010) introducing the MOOC concept http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc


So, I went straight for the cookie jar and clicked on a YouTube video about MOOCs.  Why is that interesting?

I'd seen the video before, but hadn't paid close attention because I thought I already new what a MOOC was.  (Lesson 1:  we don't invest ourselves in learning what we already believe we know.  That's most often a good thing.  Life is short.)

Actually, the first time around I was looking for this clip from the movie Mean Streets which came up in (highly productive) conversation in the office, "What's a mook?" (some violence, edited for swearing).  Someone else obviously had the same idea, because that particular video was posted more recently.

I watched the video more carefully this time.

I should say that I'm not focussing on this because of the word "MOOC" but simply as practical example of real Technology Enhanced Learning.  I think that that MOOC topic could easily be a distraction for ocTEL and I'd want to put MOOCs in perspective as one of many expressions of TEL.  Needless to say, I also chose it because, as a student, I anticipated that watching a video would be more fun than reading a paper!  I expect that is a risk and opportunity for TEL generally.

In explaining what a MOOC is there is a lot of subtlety and conviction in his definition.  I'm most struck by the idea that participants are expected to be engaged at a very high level in the act and direction of learning itself; not merely learning but also understanding the learning process (1.33 "Engaging in the learning process that engages what it means to be a student.").

That raises a challenge for TEL in this mode, as in the wide world of education there are many scenarios in which individuals are not equipped to engage at that level.  One constraint of online learning generally (or at least the kind I have in mind when I say "online learning") is the level of self-direction and motivation required for success (e.g. as in the completion rates for online learning).  Students / learners at different levels need different supports.

For me, that highlights the necessity to view TEL as a landscape rather than a topic.  Perhaps that's obvious, but I do often feel that people debate TEL in phrases such as "online learning is...", "the strength of TEL is...", "the problem with TEL is...", "online learning generally...", when in practice the context in which it's applied has a huge bearing on what it is and what it's strengths are.

There's a very striking top comment on the video followed by what I expect was a very satisfying reply from Dave Cormier.  If you invent something you get to say what it is.  There may be a need for more MOOC prefixes to cover the variety of permutations (xMOOC, cMOOC, ?MOOC).