This week I am going to write about the article 'Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)' I had read a little about MOOCs for previous modules, mainly on the subject of student motivations (or lack of) to complete courses on MOOCs. I have done a few courses on MOOCs myself. I finished a couple of short Spanish courses on FutureLearn, but the majority of courses I took, I'm ashamed to say, went unfinished. Whether this was due to the quality of the instruction I received or my own motivations, I'm not sure. I'm inclined to say that I did learn a little from the modules I completed, but I simply did not have the incentive to finish the course. Maybe I need some 'push' factors, such as the fact that I invested money in the class (for example, I will always complete short courses that I have paid for), or maybe I need a specific time slot to do the course each week so it becomes part of my routine. This study analysed the instructional quality of 76 MOOCs using the criteria based on 'First Principles of Instruction' by Merrill (2013, cited in Margaryan, Bianco and Littlejohn, 2015). I must admit, I hadn't come across these principles before, and as the authors suggest, it is difficult to find a comprehensive framework to address instructional quality. The study found that most MOOCs achieved a low score on the majority of the principles. I was surprised that 'In 68/76 courses, learning activities did not require learners to relate the course material to their prior knowledge and skills' (Margaryan, Bianco and Littlejohn, 2015, p.80). This is something that is a key principle in English language teaching to activate students' prior knowledge so that they will remember content better and relate to it more deeply. It has become a part of my teaching philosophy, so it was surprising that so many of the courses didn't address this principle. One shortcoming of this study is that it doesn't explore the real experiences of MOOC users. It would be interesting to follow it up with a qualitative study which explores the perceptions of those who took the course to their own learning. The instruction is just one side of what we can see about the quality of the course, and without the learners themselves we can't get the full picture. It is certainly interesting to think deeply about whether MOOCs are providing good quality learning opportunities for students. Perhaps this is part of the reason that I dropped out of the MOOC courses I took, although I was not really conscious of it at the time. I'm not sure, because learning is tiring, I may still have dropped out, for example if I was collaborating more with my peers, I could learn more, but it may take more of my time. Reference:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
LaurenI am an IMAESC student, English teacher and adult education researcher from the UK. Categories
All
Archives |