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Affordances of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)Leah Di VincenzoMurdoch University, AustraliaDubai Campus, United Arab EmiratesIn recent years, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have garnered a great deal of attention in higher education, leading the New York Times to declare 2012 “The year of the MOOC” (Pappano, 2012, title). Supporters of MOOCs have heralded this new style of delivering university courses as the universal equalizer – by providing online courses for free, universities are removing the financial barrier to higher education and ensuring everyone with an internet connection has access to quality education. However, critics argue that online learning cannot compete with face-to-face education (Crawford, 2013). Furthermore, because most MOOCs are currently not typically awarded credit, many question their value. It remains to be seen whether MOOCs will attain their democratic pedagogical potential, or whether they will simply be a passing fad; however, MOOCs have the potential to reshape the way we view higher education.What is a MOOC?A MOOC is an online course available to a mass audience. These courses are now being offered by top universities online, free of charge. The big players in the MOOCs movement at the moment are Coursera, edX, and Udacity, which include courses provided by Ivy League Universities such as Stanford, Princeton, Harvard and MIT (Crawford, 2013). MOOCs typically have no pre-requisites or fees, and the majority of MOOCs are not formally accredited (Liyanagunawardena, Adams and Williams, 2013). Because MOOCs are available to such a wide audience they present unique challenges to professors in terms of authentic assessment and pedagogical course design. MOOCS are unique in that connectivity between students has become a powerful educational tool as students discuss course content online and learn from each other. Students typically connect through some type of social networking, such as blogging, micro-blogging, LMS, (Liyanagunawardena, et al., 2013). The nature of this connectivity has led Professor George Siemens to differentiate between two different types of MOOCs: MOOCs developed by large universities which designed to reach a global audience (xMOOCs), and Connectivist MOOCs (cMOOCs), which utilize Web 2.0 technology as a pedagogical tool (Carlà & Barberà, 2013; Liyanagunawardena, et al., 2013). The MOOCs DebateAs Herrington, Reeves and Oliver state in their guide to e-learning, in order for authentic learning to take place, it is important to ensure that students are using technology creatively as learning tools, rather than simply using technology to deliver information (Herrington, et al, 2010). In xMOOCs it is arguable that the MOOC simply becomes an alternative delivery platform, rather than a technological advancement which promotes authentic learning. In this regard, Carlà & Barberà highlight the fact that “…there is the urgent need to build an educational pedagogy for MOOCs, based on valid learning theory (Carlà & Barberà, 2013, p.g. 7). Aguaded-Gómez contends that many MOOCs courses are based on the constructivist approach wherein education is unidirectional. He sees these courses as reducing the educator into a media package and questions the power of horizontal learning opportunities (such as collaboration through blogs, LMS or social media) to counter this constructivist model (Aguaded-Gómez, 2013)Conversely, many argue that web 2.0 technology has the power to democratize information in MOOCs (Rhoads, 2013). Rather than relying solely on an ‘expert’ to dispense knowledge, students are encouraged to engage with the material through online debate and development. In some courses, peer evaluation is being utilized to grade work which cannot be assessed through quiz format (Carlà & Barberà, 2013). However, many question the validity of peer evaluation, and currently the majority of courses offer information through videos, and assessment is conducted either through quizzes which check student comprehension, or through activities which ask students to apply their knowledge (Pappano, 2012). Alongside concerns about pedagogy and authentic assessment, accreditation is perhaps the greatest concern in the MOOCs debate. Although most offer a completion certificate, most courses are not for credit. However, some schools have begun to offer certification for their courses, thereby reducing the cost of higher education (Rhodes, 2013). Though universities do not yet offer degrees online, accreditation for free online courses would revolutionize education by taking monetary concerns out of the knowledge development equation.However, despite several drawbacks, the growth of MOOCs has far reaching implications for the nature of education. In providing high quality courses to students absolutely free of cost, universities are removing the financial barrier to education and “The benefits in terms of equity and opportunity are unprecedented” (Crawford, 2013, p. 19). This means non-traditional students, such as those already in the workforce, or retirees, have the opportunity to study. At its most idealistic level, this movement even has the potential to global inequality by providing universal access to higher education. MOOCs in an Abu Dhabi ContextProvided that one of the core benefits to MOOCs is the democratization of knowledge through the provision of free information, there is perhaps a need to take the Massive out of MOOCs and begin developing more specified courses at the grassroots level. To this end, I see a definite need within my current teaching environment for the provision of a Small Open Online Course (SOOC) for secondary students studying for the Common Educational Proficiency Assessment (CEPA). Currently in Abu Dhabi, university entrance is based entirely on students’ CEPA score, which tests Math and English skills, yet CEPA training is not included in the current public school curriculum (UAE Ministry of Education, 2013; Abu Dhabi Education Council, 2013). Teachers are left to their own discretion if they would like to train students for CEPA, but this will take away from their time to reach curriculum goals. In this context, a SOOC would greatly benefit my students, as well as other students in the Emirate. The lack of official certification is not a concern in this case, as students who wish to participate would have intrinsic motivation in preparing for university entrance. Given that the textbook and practice quizzes are already available online through CEPA, this environment lends itself well to the MOOC format (United Arab Emirates Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, 2011). Units could be developed in accordance with the textbooks, though learning could be far more engaging, going beyond simply preparing students for entrance to university by engaging them in collaboration and creation with their peers. The program would include a mini-blog, utilizing twitter to develop vocabulary by requiring students to write a sentence for the word of the day. A class blog could be used to develop student’s writing skills through discussion of CEPA related topics. Furthermore, the introduction of peer editing would help students to prepare for the written portion of CEPA by familiarizing them with CEPA grading procedures. The fact that MOOCs are inspiring educators to take on online course development free of cost is testament to their powerful democratic potential. While there are certainly concerns to address over the quality of information and difficulties developing authentic assessment, the benefits far outweigh the costs. MOOCs have inspired students and teachers alike to look at knowledge in a new light – as something to be developed and shared, rather than as information to copy written and sold for profit. Whether or not MOOCs continue to survive in their existing form, it is clear they will have a lasting effect on education and the way information is shared.Word Count: 1114ReferencesAbu Dhabi Education Council (2008). 10-12 Curriculum: Applied English Language. Abu Dhabi Education Council. Abu Dhabi, UAE. Aguaded-Gómez, J.I. (2013). The MOOC Revolition: A New Form of Education from the Technological Paradigm. Comunicar, 41(21). DOI: à, M., Barberà, E. (2013). Learning Online: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), Connectivism, and Cultural Psychology. Distance Education, 24(1), 129-136.Crawford, F. (2013). Shaping the Future of Higher Education. Charter, 84(6), 14-19.Herrington, J., Reeves, T. & Oliver, R. (2010). A Guide to Authentic E-Learning. New York, USA, Routledge.Liyanagunawardena, T.R., Adams, A.A., & Williams, S.A. (2013). A Systematic Study of the Existing Literature on MOOCs. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 14 (3), 202-227.Pappano, L. (2012, November, 2). The Year of the MOOC. The New York Times. Retrieved from , R.A., Berdan, J, & Troven-Lindsey, B. (2013). The Open Courseware Movement in Higher Education: Unmasking Power and Raising Questions About The Movement’s Democratic Potential. Educational Theory, 63(1), 87-109.United Arab Emirates Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research. (2012). Your Guide to Higher Education 2012-2013. Abu Dhabi, UAE. United Arab Emirates Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research. (2011). CEPA-English Practice Materials. Common Educational Proficiency Assessment. Abu Dhabi, UAE. National Admissions & Placement Office. Retrieved from ? Opt=2 ................
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