Category: Online Learning

MOOC, Online Learning, publication, Research

How Do Online Learners Overcome Challenges in MOOCs? [New Publication]

Laura Pasquini

In analyzing recent MOOC research, a number of studies explore the vast amount of data collected by digital learning platforms to understand learning behaviors in these scaled classes. What we don’t know much about is:

  • How online learners resolve the problems
  • How students online persist in a course
  • The strategies MOOC students use to overcome challenges

In a new publication, The Life Between Big Data Log Events: Learners’ Strategies to Overcome Challenges in MOOCs, George Veletsianos, Justin Reich, and I share what we learned from talking to 92 MOOC students ages 21 to 81 enrolled in 4 different courses from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The whole paper is free and available for your reading pleasure at the new open access education journal, AERA Open, and check out the research findings presented in this short video summary created by moi:

During these interviews, we learned that there is so much more going on beyond the screen, tracking logs, and platform learning analytics. Learners shared how they engaging in the online course and activities in three domains:

  1. Describing their designated workstations and study methods for learning
  2. Utilizing online and outside resources beyond the learning platform
  3. Engaging with social networks both inside and outside the online course

Read more here:

Veletsianos, G., Reich, J., & Pasquini, L. A. (2016). The life between big data log events: Learners’ strategies to overcome challenges in MOOCs. AERA Open, 2(3); 1–10. doi: 10.1177/2332858416657002

#OLCInnovate, Conference, Higher Education, K-12, Learning, Learning Technologies, OLC, Online Learning

Feedback Wanted: #OLCInnovate Solution Design Summit Video Trailers

Laura Pasquini

You may have read my previous CFP post looking for learning challenges & solutions – that was for the NEW program feature of #OLCInnovate, The Solution Design Summit (SDS). Nine SDS teams, who proposed a learning issue with a potential solution, have been selected by a blind, peer-review panel to be our finalists who will participate in our 1st Summit  at the 2016 OLC Innovate conference in NOLA. This pre-conference event will be an opportunity to network with peers from other SDS Teams, specifically to solicit feedback from potential learning stakeholders.

SDS_Teams_2016

VIEW THE SDS TEAM VIDEO TRAILERS

 Learn More About the Solution Design Summit

Now the SDS Teams need YOUR feedback!

Please WATCH the Solution Design Summit trailers on the #OLCInnovate Sandbox (a Canvas LMS site) for the conference. To join this Canvas site, click the “Enroll” button at the top of the page or enroll HERE https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/MGEHMW  

To effectively COMMENT and provide FEEDBACK, our SDS Planning Team has developed  Guidelines for Solution Design Summit: Giving Feedback to Teams Please find all 9 videos and SDS Team pages HERE to do such things. You can READ the full proposal and learn more about these learning solutions by clicking on the “Read more at the Team page” links below.

If You Build It, Will They Come?

Read more at the Team page

 Preserving Core Experiences in the Online Learning Environment

Read more at the Team page

 Bridging the Engagement Gap for Distance Students Through Telerobotics

Read more at the Team page
Supporting Adjunct Faculty to Maximize Student Learning in the Online Classroom

Read more at the Team page

 Expanding college classrooms into high schools via distance learning network

Read more at the Team page

 Using Student Data as a Map, Not a Target

Read more at the Team page
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cultural Relevance in the Curriculum

Read more at the Team page

 Creating Pathways to Digital Peer Leadership in the Liberal Arts

Read more at the Team page

 Cohort-specific Online Discussion Experiences

Read more at the Team page

Are you coming to #OLCInnovate? You should also plan to come to SDS Pitch Sessions during the Conference all hosted in Rhythms II Room of the New Orleans Sheraton Hotel. Three SDS Teams will pitch their learning challenge and solution during ONE (1) concurrent session in just 10-minutes. Audience members will be given 5 minutes for Q & A and then encouraged to cast their vote for the best solution design.

Thursday,

April 21, 2016

 11:15 am-12:00 pm 1. Cohort-specific Online Discussion Experiences

2. Expanding College Classrooms into High Schools via Distance Learning Networks

3. Bridging the Engagement Gap for Distance Students Through Telerobotics
Friday,

April 22, 2016

 9:45 am -10:30 am 1. If You Build It, Will They Come?

2. Supporting Adjunct Faculty to Maximize Student Learning in the Online Classroom

3. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cultural Relevance in the Curriculum
Friday,

April 22, 2016

 11:15 am -12:00 pm 1. Preserving Core Experiences in the Online Learning Environment

2. Using Student Data as a Map, Not a Target

3. Creating Pathways to Digital Peer Leadership in the Liberal Arts

Thanks for your support! Much love from the #OLCInnovate 2016 SDS Planning Team:

  • Mike Goudzwaard, Dartmouth College, @mgoudz (Co-Chair)
  • Laura Pasquini, University of North Texas, @laurapassquini (Co-Chair)
  • Patrice Torcivia, Cornell University, @profpatrice
  • Kyle Johnson, Chaminade University, @kyleejohnson
  • Michael Atkisson, Brigham Young University, @mikeatkisson
  • Adam Croom, University of Oklahoma @acroom
  • Allison Dulin Salisbury – EdSurge @amdulin  (Reviewer)
  • Sean Michael Morris – Hybrid Pedagogy, @slamteacher (Advisor)
#3Wedu, Blended Learning, Learning, Learning Technologies, OLC, Online Learning

Sparking a Few Ideas for #OLCInnovate in NOLA!

Laura Pasquini

April is just around the corner. Some say it brings Spring showers, but I know it brings jazz and learning in New Orleans.  I am looking forward to the NOLA Jazz & Heritage Festival (1st time for me!) and welcoming the many conference participants to the NEW 2016 OLC Innovate (#OLCInnovate). Less than one month from now, we are excited to kick off the new conference with the opening session with the #OLCInnovate Lightning Talks!

This opening session, on Wednesday, April 20th from 5-6:30 pm, will host a series of rapid-fire talks to introduce a variety of themes around the topic of innovation, including pedagogy, structure, workforce, and the challenges we face in learning. The format for the #OLCInnovate Lightning Talks are as follows – each presenter is given 6 minutes to talk while their 20 slides automatically advance every 18 seconds. We hope the quick-pace of these mini-keynotes introduce you to the concepts of innovation inspire you to think further about the conference experience ahead. Here’s the speaker line-up for the evening:

Title of Talk: Reachin’ Out to Meet the Changes

RolinMoe

Rolin Moe (a.k.a. @RMoeJo), Seattle Pacific University

About Rolin’s Lightning Talk: Embracing the structures of education means understanding the complexities of all members of the community. There are no shortcuts. 20th Century poet Laura Riding made it her life’s mission to create a universal dictionary where every word would only have one meaning. This would clear up ambiguity and allow people to communicate more effectively. Since this is probably the first you have heard of Laura Riding, you can imagine the fate of her dictionary. This is a victory for language; it is the imperfection of the human state that creates the most meaning.

 Using Core Values to Collaborate, Innovate, and Educate

JulieLarsenJulie Larsen ( a.k.a. @julieclarsen), University of Washington

About Julie’s Lightning Talk: Starting with values identification allows peer educators to name their own “why” and develop better mentoring relationships. Give your learners the toolbox, and let them build their own course.Training and development is most often focused on policies and procedures. Innovation lies in creating a mentoring and peer education program founded in values-based education that focuses on the “why” more than the “how.” By encouraging students to use discernment and judgment, retention and satisfaction with experience will follow.

From Redlining to Digital Redlining

ChrisGilliard Chris Gilliard, Ph.D. (@hypervisible), Macomb Community College

About Chris’ Lightning Talk: Digital footprints serve discriminatory purposes similar to traditional forms of redlining that are now outlawed. Academic IT policies risk complicity with such discrimination. Where redlining was once a geographic classification for channeling financial advantage to the white, middle-class, it has been reinvented in digital practices that affect finance, employment policing, and education. In education, digital redlining arises out of uncritical policies that regulate the engagement of community college’s working class students with technology.

Today’s the Day: Balancing The Reality of Faculty Scholarship with Innovations in Digital Authorship

 NoriBarajas-MurphyNori Barajas-Murphy (a.k.a. @nononi28), University of La Verne

About Nori’s Lightning Talk: It’s time to rethink the definition of faculty publications. Authoring course texts and designing curriculum are the products of innovative faculty and should be considered scholarship. Developing cultures of innovation for faculty across institution types requires restructuring traditional emphasis on scholarship and publication. Institutions that honor the time needed to develop digital content with course releases and course development sabbaticals will fuel innovation and offer students course materials beyond a textbook cartridge.

There’s A Lot More Going On Behind That Screen

PaulBrownPaul Gordon Brown (a.k.a. @paulgordonbrown), Boston College

About Paul’s Lightning Talk: Moving learners from external to internal motivation and how the developmental process plays out online. Research into the impact of digital and social technology on student development remains relatively new, therefore, consider how we reflect on some of the same questions asked of our learners. To trigger discussion and share strategies, this talk will instigate how practitioners can be more when engaging their learners about digital identity development.

That being said, we hope you are actively contributing to the opening program as well. These fantastic speakers plan to INVOLVE YOU by presenting a question, introducing a challenge, or prompting participants to chat with one another about the central message from their talk. We encourage ALL OF YOU to create a “digital make” using the conference hashtag, #OLCInnovate, to share your thoughts and reflections. And since we are in New Orleans, we will, of course, have drinks and snacks to enjoy. We hope this dynamic welcome allows you to ponder a few innovation ideas and allows you to connect to the OLC and MERLOT community.

Women_Ed_Tech

OLC Innovate: Women in Ed Tech Scholarship Award

Applications for the women in the field of #EdTech who exemplify leadership qualities in the field of online learning are OPEN! In 2015, the Women in EdTech Scholarship was established by the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) in conjunction with the Women in EdTech dinner, an event sponsored by Loud Cloud at OLC’s 2015 #ET4Online Conference. The scholarship honors women in the field of EdTech who exemplify leadership qualities in the field of online learning and who contribute to the field through the adoption of innovative practices or new research in the field. This scholarship will be presented at the 2016 OLC Innovate conference in New Orleans April 20-22, 2016. This scholarship includes an OLC Innovate conference registration, 2 nights at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel to use during the conference, attendance at the 2016 Women in Online Leadership Dinner and a commemorative plaque.

This blog post has been cross-posted on the Online Learning Consortium blog. 

#AcWriMo, Higher Education, K-12, Learning, Learning and Performance, Learning Technologies, Online Learning, Professional Development, Research, Training & Development

What *IS* Innovation? Tell us. The CFP for OLC Innovate 2016 (#OLCinnovate) is OPEN!

Laura Pasquini

What *IS* innovation?

This is the FIRST question the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) co-chairs, Karen Vignare, Paige McDonald and I, asked each other as we started to organize the *NEW* OLC Innovate Conference (#OLCinnovate). Innovation is a BIG word. It means so many different things, to so many different people. Before putting out the call and promoting the #OLCInnovate conference (happening April 20-22, 2016 in  New Orleans, LA), we thought carefully about who we wanted to join the planning team and how to design a conference experience to live up to the “hype” of the word INNOVATE. This conference was formed to merge the best ideas of blended learning (from #blend15) and emerging technologies for online learning (from #et4online); however we expect this meeting in NOLA — OLC Innovate 2016 — to be SO MUCH MORE! Thanks to our AMAZING #OLCInnovate Steering Committee (Tw-shout outs HERE and HERE) we support to hash out what innovation means for the program tracks, developed thoughtful session types for program delivery/format, and, we hope, this conference will model the learning design we all strive for at our institutions and organizations.

logo_516x227

So WHY should you attend #OLCinnovate 2016? [What’s in it for me? you ask.]

  • Advancing learning requires continuous visionary leadership from all disciplines
  • Connecting with multiple stakeholders (i.e. learners, educators, administrators, trainers, researchers, administrators, faculty, policy-makers, designers, and industry leaders) to strategize about the evolving needs at our institutions and organizations
  • Sharing learning and development ideas for all levels – K-12, higher education, & industry
  • Implementing solution-based approaches to learning design, support, and structure
  • Researching and developing evidence-based practices for learning is now more critical than ever.

Our #OLCinnovate planning team thinks this conference is a great opportunity to bring ideas, perspectives, research, and practices to the table to truly support innovation in education. The program tracks are structured around areas we all face with learning and development in K-12, higher education, and industry:

  • Workforce Innovation – connections from K-12 to higher ed to the workforce, curriculum to meet industry needs, partnerships for learning & work
  • Structural Innovation – systemic challenges, organization of education, learning spaces, partnerships between educators & technology solutions
  • Pedagogical Innovation – course & program approaches, methods, design, assessment models, etc.
  • Challenging Barriers to Innovation – digital divide, OER, Open Access, sharing evidence, ethical research collaborations, opportunities and areas for learning growth
  • Propose Your Own Topic – Tell us what YOU think innovation IS or what is missing!

Extend_OLCinnovate_Dec2

The call for proposals (CFP) is OPEN until November 9 December 2, 2015 

Program Format (Session Types) include:

  1. Conversations That Work – why have a panel, when you can facilitate a discussion on the topic with others in the room? Think of questions, discussion prompts, and ideas you want to chat about for this 45-minute session.
  2. Emerging Ideas – Forget the “traditional poster session” we want you to share your practice, research, and work-in-progress ideas in 10-15 minutes to get ideas, feedback, and suggestions during this networking event with both on-site & virtual attendees.
  3. Innovation Labs – 5-minute chat about the concept/idea; 20-minute demonstration; 20-minute applied skills for learning, technology, research, design, or other.
  4. Research Highlights & Trends – 15-minute presentation on your original research; abstract due in November; final, full paper due January 31, 2016 with the potential to be invited to a special issue of the Online Learning journal.
  5. Workshops – these are interactive 90-minute sessions with valuable take-away learning outcomes for participants (free to all conference participants).
  6. Education Sessions – a 45-minute lecture about an idea/concept with 5-10 minutes for Q & A at the end.

There are a number of helpful tips provided on the CFP page; however if you have questions or needs, I would be happy to support you with your proposal development/submission. It is getting the right PEOPLE and VOICES to the table that adds value to any learning and development experience. Please help us invite of institutional stakeholders from education (K-12 and higher ed), and industry (technology, design, L & D, and corporate training) to #OLCinnovate. Share this blog post with your peers, and tell me who the #OLCinnovate planning team should reach out to or invite. Thanks!

SUBMIT A PROPOSAL FOR OLC INNOVATE 2016!

Upcoming announcements of other #OLCinnovate program features, speakers, highlights, and are coming soon… stay tuned for more updates!

DETA, Online Learning, Research

Developing a Research Model for Online Learning: @UWMDETA Wants Your Feedback!

Laura Pasquini

The National Research Center for Distance Education and Technological Advancements (DETA) has been busy since the DETA Summit at #ELI15. Besides building a framework for inquiry, formulating measures, #DETAToolkits, and establishing research designs and instrumentation, the DETA team has been working on developing a research model for online learning — and they WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!

The DETA team reminds us that the field of distance education research is not new, but we do need to come together to consider how we examine, support, and thrive in online learning:

In distance education, a common language or ground has not yet been established.  Although existing scholarship attempts to establish an identity for teaching and learning on the fringe or margins (see Moore, 2013), such as distance education, there is still much work to be done.  It is common in other disciplines to struggle with finding this common ground as well (e.g., Corman and Poole, 2000).  Yet, unlike many other disciplines that have models illustrative of the phenomenon of interest or research models that guide the design of research, distance education has seen little traction in this area.  A cohesive approach to researching distance education from a transdisciplinary lens is pertinent.        

The lack of common language and work being conducted in disciplinary silos has led to a disregard or lack of acknowledgment of previous developments in the field.  Furthermore, the disconnect many times between the fast moving development of practice and redundant research of already proven practices is less than helpful to developing distance education. 

The function of the proposed online learning research model is “to facilitate cross-institutional distance education research efforts as a strategy for ensuring quality in teaching and learning for all students.”

DETA Research Model (Proposed)

The research model document publicly is available online the DETA website for you to view. Please take a gander and comment. Your input will not only help the DETA team, it will also support many of us who research, work, teach, learn, manage, and then some online in higher education. In the proposed research model for online learning four components include (1) inputs and outputs, (2) process, (3) context, and (4) interventions.  I was interested in the three facets that describe the relationship between and among the components of the research model, including:

  1. Cyclical: Learning is conducted in cycles. It might be in a semester system, a certificate program design, or through a series of short courses. In thinking about this, it will also be important to identify attributes of the student, instructor, course, and program that feed into this cycle of learning.
  2. Transactional: Both students and instructors engage and are a part of the learning exchange. The learning process requires efforts and contributions on both end, i.e. design of a course could influence completion rates, learning interactions, course dynamics, and the feedback loop for online learning.
  3. Structurational: As instructors and staff design, develop, and modify online learning the courses, instructional methods, and program characteristics are a direct result of human action, which in turn, facilitate and constrain student interactions in online learning.

For each of these areas, I have made a few notes and questions for the DETA team — but I don’t want to influence your  feedback before you provide your own comments/questions/suggestions  on this research model. Please take a moment to review the proposed research model and complete a very brief FEEDBACK form embedded into this website at the bottom of the page and/or address any questions you have to the DETA Team:

http://uwm.edu/deta/research-model/

References

Corman, S. R., & Poole, M. S. (2000). Perspectives on organizational communication: Finding common ground. Guilford Press.

Moore, M. G. (Ed.). (2013). Handbook of distance education. Routledge.