I have joined Future Learn just to see what an Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) on a VLE is like; what it contains; how it is run as a Blended Learning course and what it contains (for research purposes). See below the introduction email and link to welcome area.
So far I have added an introduction on the welcome area, which is a blog, where I can see everyone else on the course and their introductions plus, the tutors profiles at Leeds University.
An MOOC is defined as a course available over the internet; that is generally free to the masses; with no barriers to entry Harber (2014:3). So, learning is transformative through the online, on demand formation of communities of simultaneous learners globally as suggested by Harber (2014:83).
This MOOC platform is affiliated to the Open University and partners (Future Learn 2018). The organisations mission statement is “Future Learn’s purpose is to transform access to education” (Future Learn 2018). There are many providers now available that offer these types of course, it has been an internet phenomenon since it inception in 2011 (Harber 2014), so much so that there is a list for the UK of MOOCs and courses available.
The aims and objectives of the course.
The course has started this week and lasts for 5 weeks. So far there have been several videos introducing the topic of blended learning. There are links to online exercises, as well as a threaded blog that the whole group contribute to which is monitored by the program leads. (see below)
“Chair of Learning with Digital Technology, Knowledge Lab, UCL IOE.
Developing a global community of teachers around the Learning Designer”
“Dean of Digital Education and Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Leeds”.
UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS & UCL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
Blended Learning Essentials: Getting Started– “A free course for the vocational education and training sector to promote effective practice and pedagogy in blended learning“. This is part of a program of courses with. Embedding Practice, Developing Digital Skills, Digitally-Enriched Apprenticeships. Each section cost £62 to obtain access to the full materials such as tests and a certificate.
Thus, the objective of the course is to provide an overview of the requirements of blended learning, define it and how it is used in teaching and learning. See the short video on You Tube about the course.
Does the course have credibility?
The course is run by Leads University and the online tutors above are professors in the filed of educational technology, which gives the course credibility. The course is also mentioned by Ferrell et al (2018) under the heading of Staff Development;Getting Involved (or CPD) counting as 20 hours for the course.
However, the participants do not provide formal identification to undertake the course and may not have any have any prior learning or teaching skills. Therefore, the courses does not authenticate the learners, so I will treat the course as personal development in ed tech and blended learning. Although there is an upgrade to receive a certificate for the course.
I will continue for the next 4 weeks and update on my progress, and how I found the learning experience; the overall course design and whether this enhanced my learning experience and contributed to my knowledge of blended learning.
References
Ferrell, G., Smith, R., & Knight, S., (2018). Designing learning and assessment in a digital age. [Online] Available at JISC Accessed 20-2-19
Future Learn (2018),Learn new skills, pursue your interests, advance your career. [Online] Available at www.futurelearn.com Accessed 31-1-18.
Harber, J., (2014) MOOCs. London, MIT Press. Google Books