Kalz, M. (2013). If MOOCs are the answer, did we ask the right questions? Implications for the design of large-scale online courses. Presentation given at the 3rd Annual Research Conference of the Maastricht School of Management. Revolutions in Education: New Opportunities for Development? 6 September 2013, Maastricht, The Netherlands. To download this presentation please see http://dspace.ou.nl

1. If MOOCs are the answer - did
we ask the right questions?
Implications for the design of large-
scale online-courses
Dr. Marco Kalz
marco.kalz@ou.nl
http://twitter.com/mkalz

2. 2
Source: Quickmeme

3. 3
• Massive Open Online Course
• Term coined by Dave Cormier and Bryan
Alexander to describe a course (CCK08) in 2008
with 25 local participants and approx. 2300
external participants
• Course was build on ideas of networked learning,
distributed resources and connectivism
• No central place for resources and learning
activities but rather a network of actors (Latour)
MOOC

4. 4
• 160 000 subscribed participants
• Fixed curriculum
• Video lectures combined with quizzes
• Forum for exchange between learners

5. 5Source: Cogdogblog

6. 6
Source: The Chronical of Higher Education

7. 7
cMOOC vs. xMOOC
• cMOOCs are the connectivist MOOCs from the
first generation
• xMOOCs follow the Stanford-style paradigm

8. 8Source: mathplourde@Flickr

9. 9
Research about MOOC
Liyanagunawardena, Adams, & Williams (2013)
conclude in meta-review that research focus has
been on:
Case-studies
Implications for higher education
Educational theory behind MOOCs
“The learner perspective is underrepresented in
current research about MOOCs”

10. 10
• cMOOc/xMOOC dichotomy is not a helpful
distinction
• While cMOOCs rely on a high level of self-
organization, IT competences and require a
specific learning style, xMOOCs mimic an
outdated paradigm oriented at the classical top-
down lecture
• High dropout of MOOCs is a sign of bad
learning design or support infrastructure (10%
completion rate)
Questioning the learning design
of MOOCs

11. 11
Diversity?
Source: Spiva Arts@Flickr

12. 12
Diversity?
Source: Kop, Fournier, & Mak, 2011
Other diversity factors like cultural diversity,
preferences for learning activities, support need
etc.

13. 13
Design for diversity
• OUNL/CELSTEC research program on
Learning Networks
• Large-scale networks of people who
share a common learning goal
• Flexibility of roles, open networks
• Research and development of
support services for effective
learning in learning networks

14. 14
Design for diversity
Three exemplary support technologies:
• Placement support service (Kalz et al., 2007)
• Personal recommender service (Drachsler et al., 2008)
• Knowledge matchmaking service (Van Rosmalen et
al., 2006)
Entry position
based on
prior
knowledge
Recommendation
of suited learning
activities based on
entry position
Grouping
learners for
joint problem
solving

15. 15
Design for diversity
• OpenU Masterclasses as a large-scale open online
event in a professional development context
• Embedding feedback loops into the design of large-
scale open online-courses
• Balancing between pre-structured activities and
adaptation for learner preferences
• Balancing between academic quality (state of the art)
and applied knowledge
• Using the professional experience of participants
• Enabling learner/learner, learner/expert &
learner/content interaction

16. 16
Online Masterclasses
Rubens, Kalz, & Koper
(submitted)

17. 17
25 Masterclass with 91 - 448 participants (in total
approx. 2400 participants)
71% of participants are not students at OUNL
Iterative evaluation and development of this new
educational format
Online Masterclasses
3 x higher completion rate than usually with MOOCs
Stable satisfaction patterns among participants
Live components are expensive, but also highly
valued

18. 18
All interaction directions are important for a diverse
audience
Critical role of interaction patterns of expert
Online Masterclasses

19. 19
Online Masterclasses
Rubens, Kalz, & Koper (submitted)

20. 20
Conclusions & Recommendations
• Large-scale open learning interventions
call for diversity design
• Diversity can be addressed
technologically or via the learning design
itself
• If you enter the MOOC arena, go for
innovation & quality rather than pre-
designed courses and quantity
• Set standards for content experts
• Balance between openness and

21. 21
http://www.emoocs2014.eu

22. Thanks!
Dr. Marco Kalz
Associate Professor Centre for
Learning Sciences and
Technologies (CELSTEC), Faculty of
Psychology and Educational
Science, Open University of the
Netherlands
http://www.marcokalz.de
http://www.celstec.org
marco.kalz@ou.nl