eMadrid seminar on «The use of telematic tools in facilitating MOOC: first impressions»

Date and place

November 17th, 2016. 12:00

Escuela Politécnica Superior. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Edificio Alan Touring

Abstract

Each of the MOOC initials (Massive Open Online Courses) involves a challenge for offering support to learners. They are massive, hence the tutor/learner ratio requires different interventions to those in smaller and paid courses. They are open, which makes it challenging for persuading departments to allocate budgets for supporting non-enrolled learners. They are online, which requires support strategies, nearly always asynchronous, the impact of which is very different to those in face-to- face settings. Finally they are courses, that is, events with starting and end dates in which mentors need to guide learners in a journey from which it is too easy to get lost. MOOC platforms affordances usually promote learner independence in order to reduce dependence on instructors. Also, they often include tools for instructors to support learners, including learner monitoring tools. However, these tools have often limited features. Some independent projects have addressed these limitations, such as UAM’s and University of Southampton’s MOOC Dashboards. The impact of these tools in instructors’ practices is still to be determined. In this talk, Manuel Leon will present the Southampton MOOC Dashboard, a supplementary tool to the FutureLearn Dashboard, and will share preliminary impressions on how mentors are using the tool.

Bio

Manuel is a lecturer in Online Learning and Teaching in the Institute of Learning Innovation and Development, University of Southampton, where he is also a PhD Candidate in the Web Science Institute. Manuel previously worked as lecturer in English for Academic Purposes and Spanish Language for more than six years in the same university, where he also completed an MA in Applied Linguistics and an MSc in Web Science. Currently, his academic interests and publications are around MOOCs, learning design and learning analytics.