Learning in MOOCs

Abstract

The proliferation of open access to online educational resources is not only changing the way higher education institutions conceptualize their learning environments but also perhaps reshaping students’ perceptions and expectations of education. Indicative of the rate of these changes is the enrolment of more than seven million students in more than 400 free courses on the two-year-old Coursera platform. Equally indicative of the rate of change is the fact of two million students using edX, a non-profit learning platform founded by MIT and Harvard in 2012. In reflecting on the rapid expansion of these massive open online courses (MOOCs) over the last two years, there has been much focus on how the emergence of MOOCs will impact on higher education. In The University of Hong Kong, the eLearning Pedagogical Support Unit (EPSU) is working closely with subject-matter experts from four faculties to create MOOCs that will run on the edX platform. This development work constitutes the first stage of a design-based research approach to course development that aims to add a practical and evidence-based perspective to the emerging body of research into MOOCs. This presentation aims to generate constructive discussion on key questions from this field by briefly outlining the content of and the processes behind HKU’s MOOCs. Emerging from this discussion will be four key pedagogical themes: (1) techniques to promote active learning; (2) the effective assessment of higher-order learning outcomes; (3) the potential roles of students as co-creators and collaborators; and (4) issues regarding the ratio of teacher/student/cognitive presence.