Presented by Jennifer Chesney, Associate Vice President, University Digital Strategy and Jonathan Schaeffer, Dean of the Faculty of Science, to the Canadian Bureau of International Education’s 47th Annual Conference, November 19th, 2013

1. E9
Digital
Dinosaurs
MOOCs
and
Digital
Strategies
at
the
University
of
Alberta
Jennifer
Chesney
and
Jonathan
Schaeffer,
University
of
Alberta

2. Digital
Strategy
• First
Canadian
university
with
a
Digital
Strategy
unit
• Amplify
the
UAlberta
brand
interna;onally
To
become
one
of
the
best
examples
of
a
post-­‐
secondary
digital
learning
environment
enabled
by
our
web,
mobile,
social
networks
and
IT
systems
capabili;es

3. Digital
Strategy
• Why?
– Digital Strategy impacts more external (and
internal) stakeholders more frequently and
more consistently than any other method of
engagement.
– Transcend and integrate silos of research,
teaching, service, and student engagement
– Majority of your students are Digital Natives

4. Digital
Strategy
• What is its focus?
– Academic & administrative goals fulfillment
– Business process performance & optimization
– User engagement & loyalty
– Web/mobile strategy & product development
– Digital learning environment & products
– Social media mash-up strategy
– Digital analytics & advertising

5. SeDng
the
Stage
As
part
of
your
interna;onal
outreach
strategy,
how
many
of
you
are
already
using
or
are
considering
using
MOOCs?
Do
you
really
know
what
you
are
geDng
in
to?
(We
do!)

6. MOOCs
•
Massive
– Scale
to
100s
of
1000s
•
Open
– Available
for
free
to
anyone
•
Online
– All
material
available
over
the
Internet
•
Course
– University
level

7. •
•
•
•
•
•
•
The
Campus
Tsunami
(03/05/2012)
Universi;es
Reshaping
Educa;on
(17/07/2012)
The
Year
of
the
MOOC
(12/11/2012)
Revolu;on
Hits
the
Universi;es
(26/01/2013)
Online
Classes
Fuel
a
Campus
Debate
(19/06/2013)
Turning
Educa;on
Upside
Down
(09/10/2013)
Online
Educa;on
as
Agent
of
Transforma;on
(01/11/2013)

8. MOOC
Reality
Whether
you
agree
or
disagree
with
the
idea
behind
MOOCs,
they
have
already
had
one
enormous
benefit:
When
else
has
university
teaching
been
front-­‐page
news?

9. What’s
Different?
• Online
courses
have
been
around
for
a
long
;me,
so
what’s
different
now?
• Internet
speed
and
accessibility
• Use
of
social
media
• Be^er
course
development
tools
• Financial
pressures
• Automated
student
assessment
• Machine
learning
behind
the
scenes

10. University
of
Alberta
MOOC
• The
right
reasons
– Explore
new
technologies
– Be
a
research/teaching
leader
– Build
na;onal/interna;onal
reputa;on
– Showcase
our
research
strengths
– Set
a
standard
for
quality
• The
wrong
reasons
– Make
money
– Eliminate
instructors

11. Dino
101:
Dinosaurs!
• Fully
accredited
University
of
Alberta
course
– PALEO
200
(online)
and
PALEO
201
(blended)
•
•
•
•
•
Take
it
any
;me,
any
where,
at
your
own
speed
Interac;ve
quizzes
Online
assessment
On-­‐loca;on
filming
High
produc;on
values

12. The
Student
Experience
•
•
•
•
Increased
flexibility
Expanded
course
offerings
Lower
cost
(PALEO
200
at
50%
usual
fee)
One
size
does
not
fit
all
learners
– In-­‐class
UofA
experience
(PALEO
201)
– Online
UofA
experience
(PALEO
200)
– Online
interna;onal
experience
(Dino
101)

13. Interna;onal
Implica;ons
• Student
peer-­‐to-­‐peer
collabora;on
– 20,000
engaged
learners
– Extensive
ac;vity
in
forums
– Self-­‐organizing
study
groups
• Builds
interna;onal
reputa;on
– Teaching:
quality
– Research:
excellence
• Recrui;ng
tool

14. Dino
101:
Lesson
2
(Claws)

15. The
Administra;ve
Side:
Investment
in
Digital
Learning
Pilots
• Current
impact
– Blended
pilots
of
large-­‐enrollment
courses
– MOOC
pilots
of
new
and
exis;ng
courses
– Digital
Strategy:
producing
a
rigorous,
university-­‐
level
learning
experience
• Long-­‐term
impact
– New
assessment
&
tes;ng
technologies
– Machine
learning
research

16. The
Administra;ve
Side:
Outreach
Strategy
• Highlight
our
world-­‐class
exper;se
while
promo;ng
the
province
to
the
world
• Provincial:
Alberta
has
lowest
PSE
rate
in
Canada
– engage
our
rural
communi;es
• Na;onal:
UAlberta
s;ll
building
its
cross-­‐Canada
profile
–
come
for
university,
stay
for
the
jobs!
• Interna;onal:
Provide
paleobiology
course
access
to
the
world.
Who
is
UAlberta?

17. Engage
our
Alberta
Rural
Communi;es

18. Raise
UAlberta’s
Cross-­‐Canada
Profile

19. Amplify
UAlberta
Brand
Interna;onally

20. Dino
101:
For
China,
In
China

21. The
Administra;ve
Side:
Crea;ve
Strategy
Pedagogy
+
Forma;ve
&
summa;ve
assessment
approaches
+
Online
consump;on/behavior
strategy
+
Gamifica;on
+
Earned
and
viral
media
strategy
+
High-­‐quality
filming
&
edi;ng
produc;on
=
New
higher
standard
of
rigorous
university
MOOC

22. The
Administra;ve
Side:
Crea;ve
Strategy
Keeping
20,000
global
students
engaged
– Address
online
a^en;on
deficit
reality
head-­‐on
– Experiment:
“Binge
Theory”
–
put
the
en;re
course
out
there
all
at
once
– Interac;ve
learning
objects
built
in-­‐house
– Embedded
interac;ve
learning
object
that
learners
can
“unlock”
over
the
course
lessons
– Aspira;onal
surrogate

23. Geologic
Time
Scale

24. 3D
Fossil
Viewer
&
Filing
Cabinet

25. Aspira;onal
surrogate
model

26. The
Administra;ve
Side
Crea;ve
Strategy
Keeping
20,000
global
students
engaged
– Commissioned
art
from
leading
paleo
ar;sts
– Sketchbook
sharing
in
forums
between
UAlberta
teaching
assistants
and
students
– Comprehensive
course
notes
for
each
chapter
– On-­‐loca;on
filming
throughout
Alberta
– All
paleo
grad
students
encouraged
to
engage
in
the
Coursera
forums

27. Commissioned
Art

28. On-­‐loca;on
Filming

29. Results
So
Far
• Dino
101
first
offering
s;ll
in
progress
• Interim
results
from
op;onal,
opt-­‐in
surveys
of
Dino
101
MOOC
students:
– “GeDng
to
know
you”
Survey
• n=3,500;
10
weeks
in
the
field
and
s;ll
open
–
Mid-­‐course
Survey
• n=450;
2
weeks
in
the
field
and
s;ll
open
• Have
we
significantly
improved
student
reten;on
for
a
free
course
offering?
– Aspire
to
improve
5-­‐10%
reported
comple;on
rates
– Unknown
un;l
Coursera
grading
script
run
in
Dec
2013

30. Dino
101
MOOC
Student
Profile
(1)
Goal
achieved
of
gender
balance
for
a
university-­‐level
general
science
elec;ve

31. Dino
101
MOOC
Student
Profile
(2)

32. Dino
101
MOOC
Student
Profile
(3)

33. Dino
101
MOOC
Student
Profile
(4)

34. Dino
101
MOOC
Student
Profile
(5)

35. Dino
101
MOOC
Student
Profile
(6)
Is
English
your
na;ve
language?

36. Engagement
with
UAlberta
(1)
Had
you
heard
of
the
University
of
Alberta
previous
to
enrolling
in
this
course?

37. Engagement
with
UAlberta
(2)

38. Engagement
with
UAlberta
(3)
Would
you
like
to
be
no;fied
of
future
University
of
Alberta
online
courses?

39. Emergent
Trends
(1)
Full
course
release
(aka
“Binge
Theory”)
ma^ers

40. Emergent
Trends
(2)
Word
cloud
of
top
responses
to:
“What
did
you
like
best
about
Dino
101?”

41. Emergent
Trends
(3)
Cohort,
mul;-­‐genera;onal,
self-­‐organiza;on
models
could
lead
to
team/family
cer;fica;ons

42. Emergent
Trends
(4)
Offering
actual
university
course
credit
ma^ers

43. Where
Is
All
This
Going?
• Once
technology
disrupts
a
market,
it
is
relentless
in
making
drama;c
changes
• Disrup;ve
change
must
happen…
and
soon
– Crea;ng
rich
online
learning
experiences
– Offering
courses
from
other
ins;tu;ons
– Changing
the
in-­‐class
experience
– Crea;on
of
virtual
universi;es
• Exci;ng
opportuni;es…
for
teaching
and
research

44. Partnership
Opportuni;es
• We
now
have
exper;se
in
building
online
digital
learning
products
that
engage
an
interna;onal
audience
• Crea;ng
a
not-­‐for-­‐profit
company
specializing
in
high-­‐quality
digital
learning
produc;ons
to
serve
a
broader
audience

45. THANK
YOU!
h.p://dino101.ca
Jennifer
Chesney
Associate
Vice
President,
Digital
Strategy
jchesney@ualberta.ca
Jonathan
Schaeffer
Dean
of
Faculty
of
Science
dscience@ualberta.ca