Teacher Attitudes about Technology

After reading the article on “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants,” I started thinking about how technology is used in educational settings and how teachers can use it to lure students into learning. The article has stuck with me because I feel it is relevant to my own life, and it made me realize why it is required to take an educational technology course for a teacher preparation program. I consider myself in between a digital native and digital immigrant. I know a lot more than my parents do when it comes to certain technological features of ipads, ipods and computers, but I know significantly less than my younger cousins who can barely recall life before Microsoft and Apple. However, I am eager to learn. I don’t want my students to characterize me as a “digital immigrant,” and in my own college experience, I have more often than not seen teachers approach technology in a negative way. Although these educators may not realize it, but their attitudes can impede student learning. 

When I was a high school student, computers and ipods were the essence of technological advancement. They were not permitted in the classrooms for students. Now, students have ipads, smart phones, and many products of technology. Since high school, several classrooms I’ve been in have banned the use of technology during sessions. In one of my classes, I am not allowed to have a laptop to take notes because my instructor doesn’t trust her students to actually take notes and resist browsing the web. In a way, I understand the professor’s argument, but in this technologically advancing world, many students have adapted to study methods and habits that rely heavily on technology. While I may be old school by studying for tests with flashcards and taking notes with college-ruled paper and a pencil, other students prefer to record presentations, type their notes, and organize them through their products. It’s different in a collegiate setting because I am here by choice, so it seems ridiculous that students should have to adapt and modify their learning practices to make the instructor more comfortable, but they need to reach a common ground. If teachers treat technology in such a bad way, how can students relate when they don’t know life without it? 

Although I consider myself technologically challenged in comparison to my younger peers, I do believe it makes things more interesting to use it in the classroom and entice students to learn. I feel challenged by technology daily, but I am excited and I feel satisfied when I learn how to do something new on my Macbook because more often than not, these are useful tools that I will use daily or in the future. While completing the M-Portfolio, I was irritated because I didn’t know how to include a link in my text. Once I figured it out, I was thrilled because I had taught myself a new “trick” that came in handy for the completion of my portfolio. Technology is ever-changing and teachers can’t always keep up with their students, but they should approach technology with a positive face and embrace it because the times are definitely changing! 

The Class Bird is Not the Only Thing that Tweets

It’s hard to think of ways to make social media educational. Sure, we can teach lessons on what not to post on Facebook or Twitter, but can we use social media to actually benefit the learning process?

Twitter can be used in such a way. Twitter is a social media site that allows people to post statuses. These can range from political rants or just informing the whole wide world how you like your coffee. You can even create a #hashtag – a tag that describes your already limited post.

How can you use this in your classroom? One way to include Twitter is to use it as a means for communication with your students and even parents. Teachers can easily tweet an update on an assignment or warn the class about a possible pop quiz. This is also a great way to keep parents informed on what is going on in their child’s classroom: a parent would also be able to follow his or her child’s teacher and get these updates.

Next, Twitter can be used to create an endless possibility of assignments and lessons. For example, a foreign language teacher can have students use Twitter as a way to get connected with slang, natural speech, and written communication of the language. A business and economics teacher can get students to learn about the effects of advertising via social media outlets such as Twitter.

Now, it’s obvious that maybe Twitter cannot be used in every classroom. It may be difficult, and possibly inappropriate, to have 1^st graders tweeting his or her thoughts for classwork. Make sure the context and content is age appropriate. Using Twitter or other social media sites are probably best for high school or college students, maybe even middle school. Also, make sure that all parents and guardians are aware that social media will be part of the curriculum. Student profiles should be monitored for the students’ safety, and inappropriate activity should not be tolerated

Although I provided a few, this site offers even more ideas on how to use Twitter in your classroom. For example, Twitter can be used to help other fellow teachers out. You can use Twitter to network, and to get more inspiration in your classroom. It also offers ideas that can benefit various grade levels, such as tracking a hashtag or posting questions to your students. 

Last, be sure to keep your personal Twitter and professional Twitter separate. Your students don’t want to know about how silly your cat is, or how Whole Foods was out of your favorite organic toothpaste. In fact, no one wants to know that.

Using Twitter may be a good way to implement technology into your curriculum and help your students learning process.

#learning.

"The Classroom of the Future": An Inappropriate Use of Tech or The New Way of Education?

Hello everyone. I have found an article that you may find helpful, problematic, or disturbing, depending on your point of view. In this article, which you can view here, there are some classrooms that have students learning by a computer. What makes this classroom so different is that the students are grouped together based on the results of the lesson the previous day and they are all given a lesson to learn and a quiz after the instruction is given to see if they have learned anything. What really makes this classroom different is that a computer based algorithm is telling the students where to sit, telling the teachers what to teach, and is giving the student feedback. In some cases, a disembodied computer voice assists to give the lesson, and a teacher will only comment on what the computer asked or will fill in the students answers, if need be.

In the example given in the article, a math class is used to show how the classroom works. The students, totaling about 100 per area, are sorted into groups of 20 or so. The groups are based on if they have learned the previous lesson. After the teacher and/or computer delivers the lesson to them they are given an "exit slip", a kind of small quiz to see if they have really learned the lesson or not. After the information from the slip is calculated, the computer uses an advanced algorithm, much like the ones used on Google searches, to see in what group the student should sit in the next day. The teacher is then given this information and is told what lesson they need to be teaching the next day. The process then repeats over again.

I feel that this article represents an interesting logical conclusion to the idea of blended education. In this case, education is still blended but I think it is fair to say that the computer is doing more work than the teacher. On some level, I think this isn't such a bad thing. When I look at how this math class is run, I can see some advantages. For those who do not want to take those higher math classes, like me, it would be an advantage to take classes using these computers, since I would be able to work at my own pace, and at my own level until I grasped the concept and then moved onto the next one. As a teacher, I would help with the more mundane tasks of grading, and that is always a plus!

However, I can see this as a problem for those of us who do like math. The idea that a computer will be trying to teach us a subject one loves can seem a little disturbing. Also, the cost of having this software for the school can be great. What are some other disadvantages? What do you guys think?    

Is this the End of Standardized Tests?

Hello everyone. I have discovered an article that describes some of the possible alternatives to the constant rigor of standardized tests that schools keep forcing on students. With the rise of dissent among many different people and organizations over the frequency and difficulty among tests, many different alternatives have been suggested. I will focus on only one of them here, but to see the full article and list of options, click here.

One of the suggestions that is given in the article is that schools should use different companies who develop specific learning software to make courses specific to each class. This way, a student can take this online or downloadable course and can be tested over time, instead of being tested all at once. The tests that are given after all of the online sections are completed are stored and looked at over the course of the semester and the progress is noted. I like this idea. I can remember some of my own experiences with online learning tools. I had to use a laptop and a online pass to get to my work in an Algebra I class in college. I had never been very good at math, so I was hesitant that this would be of any benefit to me. After a few days, however, I liked it more than with the normal classroom setting. One could work at their own pace in each section and they could only advance after they had passed the previous section. For me, I loved this system. I have never believe in the onld system in math. Too many times I had experienced the problem of "Well, you got a D on the test. You obviously don't understand this material, but we are moving onto the next section. I'm sure you'll do better next time." While no one said this to me directly, that is still what it felt like. With that said, I really liked this system because it never left me behind and I could work at my own pace in the classroom and at home.

However, it would behoove me to point out that this system is not perfect. Many of these programs require internet access, and a laptop, which many students may not have at the High School level, let alone the middle and elementary grades. I myself had to pay a $300 lab fee for the Algebra I class, only to find that it was for a small, cheap net-book when I had a perfectly good computer to begin with, and this was just to make sure everyone had a laptop at the college level. It may still be an added expense for schools to give a student a computer when many parents may not be ready or able to buy them one for High school. I think that many people still think of High School as a place where computers are used on a limited basis, and the idea of them needing a computer for a whole class may be difficult to accept.

That is just one of the alternatives to rigorous standardized testing that is offered to today's public school system. What do you guys think? What do you think of the other suggestions presented in the article?      

Gaming in the Classroom?

                         Everyone loves to play games- c’mon you know you do! There are so many options, board games, physical games, mental games (not the kind your girlfriend plays), electronic games, and even online games! Did you know that you could use digital gaming in the classroom to benefit your students? And no, I don’t mean you can let your students play Mario Kart. 

                        When I was in school, we would play awful games, like jeopardy. The pressure to get the right answer was tremendous, and I would just panic the whole time, even if my answer were correct. Luckily, technology has advanced passed the point of social anxiety. Many games can be played individually or with a group, on a computer or tablet, in school, in a library, or at home.

                         Interactive games are engaging – they capture the attention of the student. I loved playing Oregon Trail as a kid in my 5^th grade classroom. And although there are much better games out there today, I still can remember some of the things I learned about the pioneer’s struggle on their westward journey (besides deciding whether to ford or caulk a wagon across a river).

                           Studies have shown that gaming actually helped students in 3 areas of development: cognitive, developmental, social. Also, game-based learning actually helps students gain a better understanding of a specific subject matter. This is great for students struggling in an area. Using game based learning to teach from a different perspective can be a new approach to help that student. Game-based learning can cover all subjects, from reading to algebra. Teachers can use game-based learning as part of the curriculum, or let students use them on their own free time. Giving access for students to use games outside a school setting, like at home or in a library, can be helpful for the student’s success as well.

                             Sure, there are the fears: Can games make children more excitable or hyper? I thought games promote violence? Don’t games take away social interaction? In game-based learning, the answer is no. With proper supervision, we can lessen these fears. An appropriate teacher should not be promoting a violent or disturbing game. Grand Theft Auto is not the best example to help teach economics. Furthermore, game-based learning is not a substitute teacher; it is just a tool that can benefit students in their learning process.

For more information about Game-based learning, check this out:

Guide to Digital Gaming and Learning

          

The Website We All Know and Love

You are in your AP English class and Mrs. AP English Teacher says, "okay when we get back from lunch we are going to discuss the first three captors of he book you were supposed to be reading over the weekend." Of course out of the twenty or so students in the classroom everyone read those chapters….. Right? If on the very off chance that there is one student who forgot one of the first resources they turn to is Sparknotes. I've had English teachers who have attempted to stop the use of Sparknotes in their classrooms completely. They get all antsy by the mention of Sparknotes because its used for cheating and its a way to cut corners. Sure, it is true that students do take advantage of it. Although it is frowned upon, I personally believe that Sparknotes is a veryyyyyy useful tool to have in the classroom. No, it is not something that students should solely rely on; but when it comes to reading a book and trying to fully understand and comprehend what you read what's wrong with using the assistance of a useful website like Sparknotes?

In fact I was actually introduced to Sparknotes by my American Literature teacher in 9th grade. It was our first high school literature class so to aid us in digesting books like Catcher in the Rye and How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer she suggested that after reading the assigned chapters we go and read the Sparknotes for them. Of course after getting used to using Sparknotes a lot of us did not bother reading the actual book. However, to attempt to stop this she would give us a short two to three question test on the chapters (asking things that Sparknotes wouldn't find important enough to mention but things you would have defiantly noticed if you actually read) before going into discussions about the book. By doing this she was training us to use Sparknotes in the right way.

What is the right way to use Sparknotes you ask? I believe that Sparknotes is a reading aid. It s supposed to be used, complimentary with reading the book, in order to explain things you might not understand, bring your attention to things you might have missed, and allow you to key in on the themes, motifs, and symbols you come across. There are also multiple features that Sparknotes provide beside the Literature Study Guides that I have been referring too. For instance, students can study for the SATs and ACT using their Online Test Prep and Study Guides feature. Something that I have recently learned is that (for the visual learners out there) Sparknotes also provides notes and examples for subjects other than literature such as math, biology, and health.

To wrap this all up, using Sparknotes isn't cheating! Sparknotes is just another technological tool just like a calculator. It is simply a crutch that students can use to help them along the way that I don't think teachers should shy away from. I'm not saying don't bother passing out the book and just write the link to Sparknotes on the board, but for students who use it correctly it can aid in their understanding and overall comprehension of the book or subject they are studying.

Written? Kitten! - Word Counts

I know what you might be thinking, "I am an educator. My practice is serious. Sara Millward, why the heck are you bringing kittens into my classroom?"

Hey.
Hear me out for just a second.

WrittenKitten is an free-to-use website that counts your words. Plain and simple. There's no worrying about font or spacing or anything fancy like that. Word. Count. Whenever you hit the word count (which you set to 100, 200, 500 or 1000), the site gives you some sweet, sweet, positive reinforcement in the form of a picture. Of a cat. Or a dog. Or a bunny. Something small and fluffy and delightful.

For your students with disabilities or who have trouble focusing on a task for too long, the instant reward can be a great motivator to continue writing. This can be helpful for in-class writings (because for some reason, the number of ceiling tiles is really entertaining) or as a resource for students to take home when given an essay. I'm a secondary educator, so my ideas are more focused on high-school students. Just writing those weekly reflections, you know that 200 words can be quite a lot to do! For elementary educators, especially early grade levels, this is more applicable to big projects like a short story or a five-paragraph essay. Where our 100 and 200 words are stepping stones for high-schoolers, consider using those as the finish lines for your elementary students.

If students have assigned computer seats or laptops/chromebooks, you're in luck, too! The web-browser will save and remember your work - perfect if your lesson runs long or gets cut short by a pesky fire-drill.

I'm not suggesting this as a fix-everything resource for all students. Some of your students might view it as childish or demeaning. That's fine - they don't have to use it. This is more of a resource like, "Hey, look at this cool thing! If you find it useful, use it." I can be perfectly honest and say that, as an undergraduate, if I have trouble working on an assignment (mostly those smaller ones that you just don't want to do), I work on it in WrittenKitten.

WrittenKitten was originally developed as a free version of Write or Die, which costs $20 to use (I don't know if it's a one-time purchase or not - I don't use it!). Write or Die, if your interested, is a more robust word-count tool that can be used for positive reinforcement as well. It's more known, however, for it's negative reinforcement.
Not writing enough? Let's start deleting that you have! Or, to be a little more confusing, let's just delete the vowels. Tht wll tch y t slck ff n clss!
You can set it to specify word count per measure of time. If you want everyone in class to write 500 words in 30 minutes, it calculates how many words per minute that is. If a student isn't quite up to speed, it'll let them know.

Write or Die is a great writing resource, but you have to purchase it and its purpose is really for authors writing longs works that can't stay focused. I can't in good conscious say that elementary instructors should use it - it's a little intense! High-school teachers, if you school will buy accounts (discounts for teachers and students!), absolutely give it a try! (Especially for in-class free writes!) You set the requirements ahead of time, so each class can be different. Better yet, individualize that instruction for your students! Jordan has trouble focusing, so lets say 350 words in 30 minutes. 500 is way to easy for Jessie, so let's try to push them to 650 words instead.

WrittenKitten, in summary, is a simple word-counting website that rewards users for hitting their word count with a picture or an adorable animal. It's not perfect and not all of your students may find it useful, but for the students who do want to use it, let them. When a 3 page paper (1500 words!!) sounds like too much to tackle all at once, it helps to think of it as 15 fuzzy animals. I can handle that.

Written? Kitten! - writtenkitten.net
Write or Die - writeordie.com

Digital Learning: As Cost Effective as it Seems?

Hello everyone. This is an article that describes one of the possible problems with digital devices in education, primarily, that they are not as cost effective a teaching method as their old-fashion counterparts. You can read the article for yourself here.

The article describes how the new buzzwords in education like 'personalized learning experience' and 'personalized learning' may seem like they are the new way toward education, but they may hurt the bottom line of educating students and the pocket books of some school districts. The article then states how researchers looked at two different types of education: online-only, and blended-education, where digital devices were blended into regular instruction. The results were interesting. Online-only classes had no to a slight negative impact on student achievement, while blended-education was harder to examine. However, when the achievement was improved with blended education, the money it took to get the technology outweighed the benefits.

Overall, I am torn on what this article describes, assuming the results were clear in the first place. On the one hand, this article seems to say that digital technologies are no better than the older teaching methods, but, on the other hand, many of the ways that they are used in the classroom create unclear results regarding their effectiveness in the learning process. I believe that this is a debate that has gone on for some time and will continue to do so in the future. While I can understand that a school district would be hesitant to allocate funds for technology that may or may not be used, I also believe that schools have a responsibility to get students ready for the world outside of school, and that includes using electronics as well.

Yet, I can see school districts eventually falling behind in the technology curve, such as was the case when I was in school. Back when I was in high school, from 2007 to 2011, there was, arguably, a digital revolution. With the arrival of smartphones and g mail, and Google Docs, our technology policy alone was hopelessly outdated, much less the methods used to teach technology to us. The only class that we had to teach us this was a class in online learning were we learned things like how to type without looking, and how to shop online...as one can guess, this did very little to prepare me for the tech of today. We also used school laptops that were very thick and heavy and took about fifteen minutes to start up. I could easily see this being repeated in today's schools or even schools of the future, where kids are griping about having to use the original iPads, and not letting their iPone 10's do the latest trick to get their work done.

But all of this comes down to if digital technology is effective in education given its cost, and I say only time will tell. Admittedly, there is no way to tell a school district if the piece of tech will be relevant in a year or if it will be a humongous flop. Money must go to certain things in a budget every year and buying the latest tablet may seem like an expense that is not needed. However, this train of though leads me to ask the question: is the rate of technological expansion decreasing? Do we need to buy the latest smartphone in order to be digitally current? I remember one of my friends excitedly telling me that the iPhone six was coming out, when I asked him what it did better than the iPhone 5, he said, "You, know what? I don't really know." Personally, I think this is a sign of more than just an uninformed friend. Perhaps the need and requirement for the latest technology in our lives is decreasing and we can make due with something that is not the latest and greatest, and this could apply to schools as well. What are your thoughts?        

Doing classwork on snow days?

I recently read an article on CNN titled, "Students, say goodbye to snow days -- and say hello to school at home." You can find it here. It's only fitting that I post about it when we should be having a snow day too! By the way, is it considered classwork if it's done on a snow day? Does "snowwork" sound right?

The article talked about how teachers are holding classes online on snow days. No one gets a day off on snow days. Students have to complete assignments online from the comfort of their own homes. Teachers have to be online too so that they can answer any questions there students have. The reason why this is happening is because teachers feel that they are losing precious time in the classroom with so many snow days piling up. 

I think that the idea of holding class online on a snow day is a little far fetched. I don't see younger students participating in this. Elementary students will want to play in the snow and drink lots of hot chocolate on snow days! Snow days are for watching all of your favorite Disney movies when you're young! I didn't see anyone convincing an 8 year old to sit down at a computer to complete classwork. I have found that when working with young students, you have to use close proximity to get the student to stay on task. The close you are standing or sitting to a little one, the more likely they are to do their work. Will Mom and Dad keep their child on task at home? I'm worried that if we start making it mandatory for students to attend class online that parents won't support this idea. 

I can understand why holding class online would work for high school students. High school students always have their phones or devices glued to their hands. I don't see why they couldn't get online to participate in an open discussion about a book. I will contradict myself by saying that I loved snow days as a high school students because it meant that I got to vegetate all day. I don't think it is asking too much for students to complete ONE assignment while they enjoy their day off. 

I thought it was interesting that one of the schools mentioned in the article had a higher attendance rate online than it did on a normal school day. Maybe this shows that a lot of students are too lazy to crawl out of bed and go to class? If that's the case, are teachers and parents doing something wrong? Teachers and parents alike should motivate students to show up to class and get an education.

I like that we now have things like Google Docs or Canvas that allows students to get classwork done online. My high school wasn't technology savvy enough to give students the option to complete work online. My school district was also very poor, so we didn't have the luxury of receiving person iPads or laptops. I did a lot of book work in school. The teachers understood that not many students had home computers to work type papers and that is why we were given class time to do so. Holding class online wouldn't be an option for students in poorer school districts. 

I noticed a teacher was using Twitter to hold a discussion online. One student mentioned that he had to be to the point when type his reaction to a book because he only has 140 characters to type his response with. I don't think 140 characters is enough to convey most of my ideas. However, I don't think any form of social media is a good place to do school related things! There is too much drama on Twitter. I know students that use Twitter as an outlet to say whatever floats into their mind. A lot of those thoughts aren't school appropriate. I know students that use Twitter to write mean things about teachers. My point is that Twitter is like the free-for-all of the internet. By being a Twitter follower of one of your students, you can access everything they've ever tweeted. A teacher would probably read things that they would rather not know. I just think Twitter could cause a lot of problems if were used to hold a class discussion. 

In conclusion, I think having older students attend class online during a snow day is a good idea. I don't know how younger students would handle having to sit in front of a computer to attend class.

Assistive Technologies

Assistive Technologies can be broadly defined as any technology or device that helps someone overcome a learning disability.  This could be something as simple as a pencil grip for a student who has difficulty holding a pencil to a touch screen interface for students who are unable to navigate a traditional keyboard.  There are many different technologies out there for students with both physical and cognitive impairments.  You might want to check out the Assistive Technologies page on the Ed Tech Wiki for more links.

Two great resources for teachers in southeast Michigan are the Wayne County Assistive Technology Resource Center (ATRC) and the Michigan Region IV Assistive Technology Consortium.  ATRC serves those teachers in Wayne county but the Region IV Consortium works with teachers throughout southeast Michigan.  ATRC has a lending library where you can check out software and hardware to use in your classroom.  Both of these resources are a great first stop in your search for assistive technologies.  If you teach outside of southeast Michigan, I would suggest checking with your local RESA or county educational organization to see what resources they may have available.  If you aren't a K-12 teacher you could always contact these organizations and offices and ask for recommendations on other resources.

Here are some of the more common assistive technologies available.  Many of these are not free, which is a big reason why so many schools and organizations aren't able to use them with their students.

• Screen Readers:  A screen reader can be very useful for students who struggle with reading or have a visual impairment that makes it difficult to see text on the screen.  The American Federation for the Blind has a great list of screen reader resources on their site.
• Text To Speech:  Like screen readers, text to speech tools take a piece of text and convert it to spoken words.  The main difference with this type of tool is that you can take a paragraph from anywhere, or even type it directly into a text box, and hear it read back to you.  Unlike screen readers, text to speech tools are not intended to read an entire screen to the user so they aren't as useful for learners with vision impairments.  Some tools in this category include Text to Speech (not the most original name), iSpeech and vozMe.  You can also configure the Windows operating system to activiate a text to speech feature for individual computers.  The Mac operating system has something called Voice Over that provides similar functionality. 
• Speech Recognition:  Speech recognition tools take the spoken word and convert it into text that is readable by a computer.  This is a bit like taking dictation while someone is speaking.  The benefits of this type of tool is that a user can give voice-based commands to a computer instead of having to physically manipulate a mouse and keyboard.  In addition, for students who struggle with spelling and writing, speech recognition allows them to talk out their ideas regardless of how fast or slow they type.  You can find a review of speech recognition software on the Traumatic Brain Injury website.  These tools often require a bit of "training" as the software needs to learn each new voice before it can accurately translate the spoken word to text.
• Tools for Physical Disabilities:  There are a variety of tools designed for students with physical disabilities.  To learn about some of these you can visit the Assistive Technology page on the Ed Tech Wiki.  Many of these tools are for specific disabilities and it isn't likely you would have access to them unless you had a student with an identified need.  Some of the different tools include braille printers, adaptive keyboards, touch screen technologies, switches, trackballs and alternative mice controllers, magnification tools and much more. 
• Cognitive Disabilities:  For students who have a cognitive disability such as ADHD, parsing through a basic webpage can be a daunting task because of all the extra visual stimulation on the page.  Tools such as Readability can be useful in de-cluttering the web for students.  Diigo is another tool you can use to highlight and annotate relevant information on a page as a way to help students direct their attention and focus to salient information.  When students view a page, they see the text you have highlighted as well as electronic "sticky notes" you have attached to different parts of the screen.  To learn more about Diigo, check out this video through the direct link to the Diigo website. 

To get a sense of what it might be like to have a disability, try out some of the simulations below.  This might give you a better appreciation for the challenges some of your students face in completing different web-based learning activities.

1. Distractability Simulation: This simulation demonstrates what it might be like for students with attention deficit disorder who are trying to carry out a series of basic tasks online.
2. Screen Reader Simulation: This simulation shows what it would be like if you had a visual impairment and had to rely on a screen reader to find information.
3. Low Vision Simulation: This simulation gives you an idea of what it would be like navigating the web with a partial visual impairement.
4. Dyslexia Simulation: This simulation demonstrates how difficult it is to read when you suffer from dyslexia.

MOOCs: Making Education Available for All

A growing trend in online education is the development of Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs.  Many prestigious institutions including MIT, Harvard and Stanford have lead the charge in this area. MIT started offering MOOCs through their MIT OpenCourseWare platform and later developed edX in partnership with Harvard.  Researchers at Stanford created Udacity and the University of Michigan was the first public university to offer courses through the Coursera MOOC platform.  OpenStudy is yet another provider of MOOCs.  The United States government is even jumping on the "open" education bandwagon and sponsored a video competition through the Why Open Education Matters initiative in 2012.  So what exactly is a MOOC?  Here are some basics.

• MOOCs are courses that are open and free to the public to take, although you can pay to enroll in some if you want to earn actual credit and are a registered student at the institution offering the course.
• People who take MOOCs for free generally don't receive actual college credit for the course.
• MOOCs, by nature, have very large enrollment numbers.  MIT ran a MOOC on electricity and circuits that had over 150,000 people enrolled!
• MOOCs rely on self assessment, peer assessment and automatic assessment to evaluate student learning.  Obviously, it isn't reasonable for a single instructor to grade assignments for 100,000 students.  
• MOOCs are intended to give people access to classes, content and institutions that they may not otherwise be able to attend for any number of reasons.

You can read a Quick Guide to the History of MOOCs (Links to an external site.) to learn more about this phenomenon.  You can also watch the short video below to learn about MOOCs.
 

MOOCs don't run quite like a regular online class that might have a more traditional enrollment of 20-30 students.  You simply can't have the same level of interaction between instructor and student when you have thousands of students in a class.  Therefore, instruction in MOOCs is often provided by capturing lectures or demonstrations on video for the students to watch.  Students are usually broken into smaller groups for discussions and these discussions depend largely on the students for facilitation.  You have to be even more of an independent learner in a MOOC then you would in a traditional online class and the feeling of being "self-taught" or learning through social engagement is prevalent in these types of classes.

The MOOC movement has grown largely from the philosophy that course content should be available to everyone and not just those who can afford it.  It wasn't put forth initially as a way to help people earn degrees or gain certification of one kind or another.  But now that the interest in MOOCs is growing, it presents some interesting questions for consideration.  Let's first consider that course at MIT on electricity and circuits that was referenced previously.  Here are some statistics from that class.

1. 155,000 students registered for the course
2. 23,000 students tried the first problem
3. 9,000 students passed the midterm
4. 7,157 students actually passed the course (this represents about 4.6% of those that registered)

One of the complaints against MOOCs is the low completion rate of the courses.  If you look at the example above, you can see that only 4.6% of the students completed and passed the class at MIT.  If we had that kind of completion rate at UM-Dearborn we wouldn't be in business for very long.  However, the 4.6% (or 7,157 students) who passed the course represent roughly 40 years of “normal” enrollment in this particular course.  When you think of it that way, it's rather impressive.  So it might be necessary to use a different set of metrics to assess "success" with regards to course completion in MOOCs.

Another issue that MOOCs raise is the potential role they could play in diploma, degree or certification completion for students.  You might envision a situation where a student takes a few classes at Harvard, a couple at Stanford, three more at Michigan and several others at a handful of other institutions.  If the student successfully completes all of those courses should he or she be allowed to cobble them together and earn a degree even though the classes were free and the student never had to meet any admission requirements in order to enroll?  If the answer is yes, which institution grants the degree?  If the answer is no, why not?

Of course, you can't talk for very long about MOOCs before you get to the issue of the funding model.  No one stays in business for long by giving things away for free.  But by the same token, why would students want to pay for a class that they knew they could take at the same institution for free?  What is the value added when you pay for the course?

It isn't inconceivable that the students we teach, even at the high school or middle school level, could decide to take a MOOC rather than enroll in a course, class or training we are teaching.  This makes it imperative that we think about our role in this space and how MOOCs will impact what we do and how education is provided to future learners.  Some potential future directions of MOOCs are highlighted in this Edudemic blog posting.  There are many other possible scenarios we might envision.  It certainly will change the way we think about education.