NACMP Summit Presentation on Online Learning & MOOCs

Editor's Notes

• #11: Communities  of  practice  are  formed  by  people  who  engage  in  a  process  of  collective  learning  in  a  shared  domain  of  human  endeavor:  a  tribe  learning  to  survive,  a  band  of   artists  seeking  new  forms  of  expression,  a  group  of  engineers  working  on  similar  problems,  a  clique  of  pupils  defining  their  identity  in  the school,  a  network  of  surgeons  exploring  novel  techniques,  a  gathering  of  first-­‐time  managers  helping  each  other  cope.  In  a  nutshell: Communities  of  practice  are  groups  of  people  who  share  a  concern  or  a  passion  for  something  they  do  and  learn  how  to  do  it  better  as  they  interact  regularly.
• #12: What are your questions about this MOOC?
• #13: A distinction has been made between two types of MOOCs. Bates (2014) explains, “there are two quite different philosophical positions underpinning xMOOCs and cMOOCs…. xMOOCs primarily use a teaching model focused on the transmission of information, with high quality content delivery, computer-marked assessment (mainly for student feedback purposes), and automation of all key transactions between participants and the learning platform. There is almost no direct interaction between an individual participant and the instructor responsible for the course. cMOOCs have a very different educational philosophy from xMOOCs, in that cMOOCs place heavy emphasis on networking and in particular on strong content contributions from the participants themselves.”   Another way to see the distinction is by the learning theory that guides each type. The cMOOC model is based on the connectivism learning theory and xMOOC, on the behaviorism learning theory. The focus of cMOOCs is on knowledge construction and creation, putting emphasis on creation of new thinking, learner autonomy, and social network learning. xMOOCs are more traditional and focus on disseminating knowledge using common methods like teaching videos, assignments, and quizzes (Seimen 2012.) The most popular form is xMOOCs.   The NACYML MOOC was meant to be a hybrid of the two models by giving different paths of completion of the MOOC. It contained a traditional course format more like the xMOOC type but included the option for social learning in the Live Panel Sessions, via Social Media, in NetSourcing Learning Communities, and local learning groups (i.e. parish staff’s, diocesan gatherings, youth ministry leader networks) who gathered to discuss the insights gained from course materials. A large emphasis in this MOOC was on the learning dialogue that would take place on this central issue of encounter that impacts all that pass on faith to young disciples. Part of the goal was to identify new strategies and best practices and to explore new ideas to help with our knowledge creation in this area. This was done both through the creation of content through the MOOC and through the learning dialogue’s that took place.  
• #22: The week one survey of 117 of the participants found that of those enrolled 77% were female and 23% male. They indicated by a majority (59%) that they choose to participate because of the overall topic and theme of MOOC. Only four percent were interested in CEUs. The majority of these participants had at least a bachelors degree with 37% having a graduate degree. Almost a third (31%) of the week one survey participants found out about this event through their diocesan leaders with another third (33%) finding out about it from a national organization, and 11% finding out about it through social media.  
• #25: Koller, Ng and Chen (2013) denote the distinction between MOOCs “browsers” and committed learners, noting that “Committed learners, who tend to stay engaged throughout most or all of a class, can be divided into at least three partially overlapping groups: passive participants, active participants, and community contributors:
• #26: However, through the evaluation, it was found that the majority of participants only participated in the core learning activities such as watching the master teacher videos (71%), reading the document (62%), and participating in the live sessions (50%).
• #27: Passive participants engage with a MOOC predominantly through watching lecture videos, have limited participation on course forums, and typically attempt few assignments and quizzes (but may interact with in-video questions as needed to progress through the video content). Active participants engage in course content by completing homework assignments, quizzes, exams, and time-intensive programming or peer-graded assessments; they include the subset of "course completers" who do all the work necessary to earn a Statement of Accomplishment. Community contributors also actively participate in courses, but their specific means of interaction is through generation of new content, such as engaging in forum discussions or contributing foreign language subtitles.”
• #28: In the Week One Survey, 73.5% indicated they thought they were a self-directed learner. identify existing resources or provide new resources to help further the learning and dialogue of the members of the learning communities. Resources could include video or written reflection, videos, webinar, or articles. • Provide a provocative question that links the theme and partner provided content.
• #31: 51% joined a NetSourcing Learning community but only 23% engaged at least at a minimal level Community contributors: Average of 23% (N=252) for the 5 Weeks. This participation level is defined by how many of the 1,105 enrolled made one or more posts in the NLC Discussion Forums. Since participation in an NLC was required for CEUs they are included in this level of participation. Six percent of those who participated at this level received CEUs.