FLAN tenth anniversary

The first meeting of the FutureLearn Academic Network (FLAN) took place in London on 26 September 2013 with speakers from Glasgow, Exter and The Open University. Since then, the network has held around four events a year, in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Australia. These have included 247 presentations given by 201 different speakers.

The 33rd FLAN meeting, celebrating its Tenth Anniversary, took place at the University of Leeds on 23 October 2023. The talks (other than institutional updates) are all available in this YouTube playlist.

• Ayşe Sunar: Where we have progressed or stopped on the way to a personalised MOOC experience
• Keynote – Mike Sharples: ‘The changing pedagogy of FutureLearn, from “massive open social learning” to “professional progression with tailored learning”
• Duncan Kemp, FutureLearn Partnerships Director, FutureLearn update from
• Matt Cornock, Latest work at Digital Education Service, University of Leeds
• Monty King: Doing MOOCs in Dili
• Barbara Conde & Napat Jitpaisarnwattana: Bridging the gaps in language learning through LMOOCs.
• Michael Meaney: A Framework for Considering the Matthew Effect in MOOCs
• Fereshte Goshtasbpour & Katy Jordan (Katy was unable to attend): The Decade of the MOOC

Handbook of Digital Higher Education

On 13 September 2022, the Handbook of Digital Higher Education was launched with a virtual even including a keynote from Professor Laura Czerniewicz. Panel members at the event were:

• Professor Michael Henderson – Chapter 2. Educational design and productive failure: the need for a culture of creative risk taking
• Professor Nina Bonderup Dohn – Chapter 6. Computational thinking in higher education: a framework for mapping and developing learning activities
• Professor Shirley Agostinho  – Chapter 12. From learning design to teacher design practice: researching how teachers design for technology integration
• Professor Shân Wareing – Chapter 29. Digital education: less change and more change than predicted

Our chapter in the book, Enabling Online Learning: Who  Are The Educators built on the PhD research of Dr Tina Papathoma.

Papathoma, Tina; Littlejohn, Allison and Ferguson, Rebecca (2022). Enabling online learning: who are the educators? In: Sharpe, Rhona; Bennett, Sue and Varga-Atkins, Tünde eds. Handbook of Digital Higher Education. Elgar Handbooks in Education. Elgar, pp. 99–110.

Abstract

This chapter examines the teaching activities that educators engage in, in the context of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Data was gathered from 28 professionals involved in teaching on seven different MOOCs on the FutureLearn platform, using a multiple case study approach. Participants’ prior experience was in face-to-face environments. The analysis uncovers the roles of people who carry out the teaching in MOOCs, and the wide variety of teaching activities in these settings. It provides a nuanced definition of teaching online courses (MOOCs), an activity which demands subject matter expertise, pedagogical decisions about the learning design, and technical skills. The need for this range of skills means professional development in these areas is crucial. This investigation contributes to a conceptualization of who the educators are in online learning contexts and of what teaching means in MOOCs and in other online or blended learning contexts.

Viva success for Barbara Conde

On 5 April 2022 one of my doctoral students, Barbara Conde-Gafaro, successfully completed her viva. The viva was examined by Ursula Stickler and Manuel León-Urrutia, chaired by Maria Leedham, and observed by lead supervisor, Tim Lewis. The third member of the supervisory team was Tita Beaven.

Barbara’s thesis is on Building bridges towards self-regulation” the goal-setting behaviour of adult language learners in MOOCs.

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer educational opportunities to a wide range of learners. Language learners can use these courses to develop knowledge and practise language skills needed daily or in different areas of specialisation. However, learners may not benefit from this learning opportunity if they do not know how to self-regulate their learning. Self-regulated learners employ various processes to master their learning and accomplish their goals. The literature shows that goal setting is a helpful self-regulatory process that contributes to a successful MOOC learning experience. Goal setting is the driving force behind any educational intention and can provide the basis for a strategic plan formulated by learners at the start of a learning task.

Moreover, this self-regulatory process holds the key to activating, monitoring, and assessing an effective learning process. Nonetheless, goal-setting support in these online courses is scarce. Research on goal setting in MOOCs has not previously investigated the personal learning goals that learners bring to these non-formal learning environments. This represents a twofold omission in the field of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), in which MOOCs are themselves an under-researched area. Although CALL practitioners have gradually integrated MOOCs into the L2 classroom, little research has examined adult learners’ goals during their MOOC-based learning.

To address this gap in the literature, this research uncovers the goal-setting behaviour of 19 adult learners who studied MOOCs for four weeks as part of their classroom-based language courses. To achieve this aim, the researcher gathered and analysed 38 semi-structured interviews, 18 weekly monitoring surveys, 19 open-ended questionnaires and 19 MOOC screenshots. The findings of this study advance the field of CALL by providing a comprehensive picture of the different aspects of language, traditional and non-traditional goals, and MOOC elements involved when L2 adult learners self-regulate their learning online.

A Note to the Reader:

This thesis consists of words and images that represent the digital experience of adult language learners using Massive Open Online Courses for different language learning purposes.

Read it calmly, carefully, and joyously.

Viva: Shahrzad Ardavani

On 1 April 2022, together with Peter Mtika, I examined Shahrzad Ardavani’s thesis: Investigating the experience of in-service English language teachers’ professional learning on a massive open online course, an activity theory-based lens. The picture above, taken post-viva, shows the successful candidate with her examiners and supervisors.

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to support lifelong learning and career development, to distribute quality of education, and to ensure that individuals have equal opportunity for educational progress, regardless of their background. Currently, there is a paucity of research into how MOOCs can be enhanced, to maximise participation and success in learning outcomes for culturally and experientially diverse learners.

This study investigates the professional learning of six in-service English language teachers taking a CPD MOOC. Using a post-Vygotskian framework (Activity Theory), the study sets out to understand the extent to which in-service teachers’ expectations and learning goals have been met through examination of their reflections on experience. The development of teacher cognition is also explored through Activity Theory.

The philosophical position undergirding this study is hermeneutic phenomenology, with particular emphasis on Gadamer’s idea of fusion of horizons, providing both the methodology and method to investigate the phenomenon.

Semi-structured interview data with one lead educator was collected to investigate how their personal pedagogical approach influences the delivery of MOOC-based continuing professional development. In addition, data on the six in-service ELTs were collected as follows:

• Stage 1: Pre-MOOC survey
• Stage 2: weekly Brookfield’s critical incident questionnaire (CIQ)
• Stage 3: semi-structured phenomenological interviews

Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were applied to CIQ data. The data from the interviews were crafted into stories around five explicative themes which were brought into conversation with the principles and components of Activity Theory.

The analysis indicates that MOOCs play a significant role in developing teacher cognition. As the course progressed, change was observed in participants’ alignment with objectives and course pedagogy, with their learning style becoming more reflective and analytical.

However, findings show that participants’ experiences included contradictions which surfaced around the design pedagogy of the course. This presented an obstacle in reaching motives and fully benefiting from the course. Participants identified solutions to circumvent these issues, which brought some positive changes to their learning.

The findings of this study imply an imperative to help learners adapt to their new learning environment and its espoused pedagogy. Recommendations are made in terms expanding access to authentic content, widening participation, and fostering an inclusive and collaborative learning community. In conclusion, it is argued that MOOCs offer many opportunities to enhance learning for in-service English language teachers. To bridge the gap between actual and intended practice, there needs to be further research, including direct feedback from online learners.

FutureLearn Academic Network at DCU

The 31st meeting of the FutureLearn Academic Network (FLAN) took place on 17 February 2022, hosted by Dublin City University (DCU).

Programme

Mairéad Nic Giolla Michíl, Dublin City University: Welcome

Hannah John & John Kerr, University of Glasgow: Future of Higher Education in a skills-driven environment: the challenges of developing and supporting flexible courses within the rigid structures of HE

Ahmed Al-Imarah, University of Kufa: MOOCs for cultural heritage education: an exploratory analysis

Martin Jackson, FutureLearn: Sentiment analysis and observations from microcredential learners

Mark Brown, Dublin City University: The unfinished micro-credential canvas: are we mixing oil and water?

Celine Heffernan, Caitríona Nic Giolla Mhichíl, Dublin City University: Introducing the Microcreds Project at DCU

 

FLAN at Raspberry Pi

The 30th meeting of the FutureLearn Academic Network (FLAN) was hosted virtually by Raspberry Pi on 26 November 2021. Sessions included:

• Jonathan Dickins: The influence of screencast video content on learner retention in MOOCs;
• Mike Sharples: Generative AI and Education;
• Tim O’Riordan: Developing a computational approach to evaluating learner comments;
• Qiongqiong Wang: Exploration on learners’ attitude on the relationship between peer feedback and student engagement in MOOCs – A Case Study;
• Mac Bowley & Ben Garside: Rock, Paper, Scissors and Machine Learning.

Social, race and gender-related equity

In October 2021, IET launched a new microcredential, Online Teaching: Embedding Social, Race and Gender-Related Equity. I played a small part in this, but the main team were Leigh-Anne Perryman, Maha Bali, Anita Pilgrim, Suki Haider, Simon Ball and Simon Hull.

As with other microcredentials offered by The Open University, this one will be available three times a year, so there are multiple opportunities to sign up.

‘This microcredential will give you an understanding of the differences between equality, inclusion and educational equity, and of the ways equitable participation in online learning can be provided in different learner contexts. […]

‘You’ll hear from experts in learning design who are experienced in addressing inequity in all its forms, including decolonising the curriculum and making it more inclusive. You will consider the importance of breaking the cycle of exclusion, discrimination, and disadvantage through the design and delivery of online teaching. […]

‘This microcredential is relevant to anyone working in adult education and training in a variety of settings including higher education, further education and workplace learning and development roles in the private, public or third sector. It will provide you with the foundations to design equitable online teaching, learning, and assessment activities.

 

FLAN: Monash University

On 24 August, the FutureLearn Academic Network was hosted in Australia for the second time, this time by Monash University. The time difference made it difficult for people in Europe to attend synchronously but the event was videoed, meaning that members could enjoy the talks after the live event had concluded.

First Session

15:00 Introduction and Welcome to FLAN and the Centre for Learning Analytics Monash, Dragan Gašević, Guanliang Chen & Mladen Raković, Monash University

15:05 Opening keynote: Feedback for online learners, Yi-Shan Tsai / Monash University

15:30 Keynote Q&A

15:45 Presentation 1: Mindfulness is associated with lower stress and higher work engagement in a large sample of MOOC participants, Craig Hassed / Monash University, Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies

15:55 Presentation 1 Q&A

16:00 Breakout Activity

Break 16:15 – 16:30

Second Session

16:30 Presentation 2: Learner revisitation of the same MOOC: formative feedback and its impact, Rowan Peter / Monash University

16:40 Presentation 2 Q&A

16:45 Breakout Activity

17:00 Closing keynote: MOOCs and Micro-credentials: Exploring Data Deserts, Mark Brown, Dublin City University

17:30 Keynote Q&A

17:45 Closing remarks

18:00 End of Meeting

Teaching, learning and microcredentials

On 9 June 2021, I was invited to talk to the STEM Taught Postgraduate Group at The Open University about microcredentials. The slide deck as a whole is business sensitive, so I haven’t uploaded it to Slideshare, but the main areas I covered were tuition and assessment strategies, the student experience, success factors, and the ways in which OU microcredentials differ from other short courses offered by the University.

FLAN at FutureLearn

The third FutureLearn Academic Network (FLAN) meeting of 2021 was hosted virtually by FutureLearn itself on 21 May. At the heart of the event were three presentations from recently completed doctoral students: Dr Saman Rizvi, Dr Adriana WIlde, and Dr Michael Meaney.