[Niall Watts]

Once a student asked a colleague if they could  make the changes suggested in the feedback and resubmit for a revised mark.

The answer was no (as you might expect). We discussed this afterwards and both thought that if we are serious about learning (rather than assessment) the answer should be yes

Does anyone accept resubmitted work in this situation?

 

 

[Niall Watts]

From personal experience … Feedback is sometimes rather specific and not readily transferrable to the next asssignment. When I was doing well enough by my own standards I just moved on. Time is precious.

“In a timely manner” … would seem to apply that there is some follow-on activity which makes use of it  – .i.e. feed forward to next assignment.

 

 

[Niall Watts]

Tools update: Articulate Storyline can publish to HTML 5 as can Adobe Captivate 6.1

[Niall Watts]

For what it is worth – I did a small research study with a group of student bloggers using Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (KLSI) and found that most had a converging learning style. I would have expected more assimilating and diveging learning styles.

Since then I have become more sceptical of learning styles. See the report by Frank Coffield et al ‘Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning – A systematic and critical review’, London, Learning and Skills Research Centre,  http://www.lsda.org.uk/files/PDF/1543.pdf  . They examined 71 theories of learning style – they questioned the validity of KLSI and learning styles in general.

 

[Niall Watts]

Thanks for sharing your survey. Did you consider using a five point scale on “What technology do you use at the moment?” to distinguish between occasional and regular use?

[Niall Watts]

Collaboration and group work are popular but is there any hard evidence that they produce better outcomes (than individual work)  for the students involved. See for example The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain

[Niall Watts]

Based on my own experience, I would have to agree with Eric Mazur that assimilation is more difficult than finding information. As an educational technologist, I work mainly with lecturers and only indirectly with students. For topics such as wikis and online discussions I have asked participants to write posts prior to the course. In the course I review their entries but spend most of the time looking at examples of good practice. So, I suppose this is moving toward the flipped classroom. I still do some conevntional teaching eg. Articulate where the class focuses on how to use the software (low level on Bloom’s taxonomy but necessary to achieve design). I give a separate more design focused course on writing for the web and am working on a course on designing for Articulate. I would be interested to know if other educational technologists have similar expereriences?

[Niall Watts]

* What can we tell about the range of experiences and preferences among ocTEL participants?

Where did you find the information about participant background. From introductions?

I would agree with your comments about small specialist groups becoming isolated in the larger MOOC but they do allow discussions at similar levels of knowledge and experience. I’m not entirely clear on role of groups at this point

I would hope to move on from discussing the MOOC itself

Does anyone else miss the edit, preview and save features that I would expect in a forum

[Niall Watts]

I am an educational technologist. I share your concern about multiple channels. The Course Reader may help. I put my own introduction in the forum as it seemed more appropriate than email. For the moment, I don’t have a big picture of what the course is about –  learning outcomes still have their place.

This is my third MOOC. I was attracted to it as I am ALTmember.  I completed a MOOC with Stanford University. It was a great place for like minded people to exchange ideas. I wrote a review of it here. I also started a MOOC with the OU. I preferred the more Stanford’s more structured approach

 

[Niall Watts]

Shuna

Thanks. My third attempt at replying to your post – a few glitches in the system this afternoon

Sorry about link . This one works.

I find that multiple communication channels can lead to confusion or missing important things. Perhaps Course Reader will help.  Discussion Forum would seem better for introductions than email

[Niall Watts]

The MOOC is a completely different experience from ‘conventional higher ed’,  a bit like a virtual learning environment open to the world. Such a MOOC is a valuable tool for those whose primary motive is to learn, to experiment with new ideas and to network with like-minded individuals around the world. It may be particularly useful for people in developing countries and those with little access to formal education.

So I don’t think a MOOC can replace a university course for school leavers. I doubt that they have the motivation or capacity  for self-directed learning. To make money the MOOC will have to be pitched carefully and consider issues like assessment and plagiarism which are not issues in a free course such as this. Stanford are still experimenting.

To be pedantic if you charge fees it is not a MOOC as it is not ‘open’. It is an MCOC – Massive Closed Online Course

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