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EDU681102 - Module 2, Week 2. Mark Ness, article #4.

Jordan, K. (2014). Initial trends in enrolment and completion of Massive Open Online Courses. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 15(1), 133-160. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/viewFile/1651/2813 Abstract "The past two years have seen rapid development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) with the rise of a number of MOOC platforms. The scale of enrolment and participation in the earliest mainstream MOOC courses has garnered a good deal of media attention. However, data about how the enrolment and completion figures have changed since the early courses is not consistently released. This paper seeks to draw together the data that has found its way into the public domain in order to explore factors affecting enrolment and completion. The average MOOC course is found to enroll around 43,000 students, 6.5% of whom complete the course. Enrolment numbers are decreasing over time and are positively correlated with course length. Completion rates are consistent across time, university rank, and total enrolment, but negatively correlated with course length. This study provides a more detailed view of trends in enrolment and completion than was available previously, and a more accurate view of how the MOOC field is developing." p.133 This is a peer reviewed article by a frequently cited author from the Open University who has set up for other researchers a MOOC Research Literature Browser that currently has 257 annotated research articles. It was written in 2013 using enrolment and completion data that was available on the Internet. It lists the data in a long table (for transparency) and shows in graphs enrolment and completion analysis. The article's main contribution is the aggregation of data for a large number of courses undertaken from 2011-2013 on 3 US based platforms, data not readily ava

The technological development of big data has been considered a phenomenon over the last few years. In this article, authors (Wendy Arianne Günthe, rMohammad H.Rezazade, Mehrizi Marleen Huysman, Frans Feldberg) explore the social and economic values of utilization of these data-sets within organizations --- identifying six debates around how organizations should realize the value from big data at different levels of analysis and practices to re-adjust their priorities and structure in order to benefit from big data science.

In this article, the authors discuss the important of big data decision making qualities. As organizations move to utilize the potential of big data, there is a gap in the need to discuss the factors that are influencing the quality of data sets used to make decisions based on the big data resources.

Thanks

Yousef, A. M. F., Chatti, M. A., Wosnitza, M., & Schroeder, U. (2015). A Cluster Analysis of MOOC Stakeholder Perspectives. RUSC. Universities and Knowledge Society Journal, 12(1). pp. 74-90. doi http://dx.doi.org/10.7238/rusc.v12i1.2253 Abstract "Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are providing opportunities for thousands of learners to participate in free higher education courses online. MOOCs have unique features that make them an effective Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) approach. Institutions are offering a growing variety of MOOCs. Nevertheless, there are several crucial challenges that should be considered in the development of MOOCs, e.g., the drop-out rate of over 95% of course participants. One of the potential reasons for that is the complexity and diversity of MOOC participants. This diversity is not only related to the cultural and demographic profile, but also considers the diverse motives and perspectives when enrolled in MOOCs. This paper aims to cluster and analyze the different objectives of MOOC stakeholders to build a deeper and better understanding of their behaviors. Our main finding was a set of eight clusters, i.e., blended learning, flexibility, high quality content, instructional design and learning methodologies, lifelong learning, network learning, openness, and student-centered learning. This cluster schema creates a meaningful picture for the MOOC community" (p. 71). This is a peer reviewed scholarly article that uses qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze survey data on MOOC instructors and learners. Responses were relatively low: 158. The context is unclear - where did they get the sampling frame from? And why did they combine the learners and instructors? So there is some question as to the sample and it cannot be generalized. That said, they are innovative in their qualitative analysis. The qualitative work analyzed the open ended questions in their survey. They used a research method that allowed them to catego

Kizilcec, R. F., Piech, C. and Schneider, E. (2013). Deconstructing disengagement: analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses. In Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (pp. 170-179). New York, NY, USA: ACM. doi:10.1145/2460296.2460330 The abstract begins as follows: "As MOOCs grow in popularity, the relatively low completion rates of learners has been a central criticism. This focus on completion rates, however, reflects a monolithic view of disengagement that does not allow MOOC designers to target interventions or develop adaptive course features for particular subpopulations of learners. To address this, we present a simple, scalable, and informative classification method that identifies a small number of longitudinal engagement trajectories in MOOCs." This peer reviewed conference paper goes on to describe how they classified learners and using data analytics from 3 courses as well as survey data from learners they developed 4 classifications. Of these classifications in addition to those who completed the courses, the auditors were of interest. They proceeded to suggest possible areas where the MOOC approaches could be adapted and tested to meet the needs of learners such as auditors. They also considered ways of increasing access and equity.

The article identifies common archival issues (i.e., listing and cataloging) associated with archiving digitally created information, due to rapidly changing technologies used to create digital information. This makes it challenging to appropriately list and catalog the moral impacts created by the rapidly emerging technologies. The article (n.d.) states, "ever morphing nature of information technology is changing our ability to even fully understand moral values as they change. Lorenzo Magnani claims that acquiring knowledge of how that change confounds our ability to reason morally '…has become a duty in our technological world'" (section 1.1). The article alerts to impending moral and ethical dilemmas created by smart phone apps that will be soon be capable of streaming biometric data (e.g., vital signs, physical activity logs, caloric intake, etc.) and linking it with GPS tracking to identify geo-locators tied to fluctuations in biometric data via phone applications. The advantage of such technology can lead to promotion of more healthy lifestyles. However, streaming such sensitive biometric information (data) leads to privacy and ethical concerns that are not easily resolved. Other moral, ethical and privacy issues are created surreptitiously when browsing websites on the Internet. "Browser software records all manner of data about our visits to various websites which can, for example, make webpages load faster next time you visit them. Even the websites themselves use various means to record information when your computer has accessed them and they may leave bits of information on your computer which the site can use the next time you visit. Some websites are able to detect which other sites you have visited or which pages on the website you spend the most time on. If someone were following you around a library noting down this kind of information you might find it uncomfortable or hostile, but online this kind of behavior takes place behin

Federal law protects educational records but student data is now being collected through the use of student services. The article looks at how long the data is stored and who may access the information in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

In this article, Newsweek evaluates the practices used in the 2016 election to influence and persuade voters based not just on demographic data but psychographic and personality traits, to micro-target messages to help sway voters in the candidates direction. This new way of utilizing data is becoming the new norm - but is it ethical or is it bad news on the way?

This news article is from a lesser known online publication, though the author is careful to provide links to well-known publications and government sources to support their points. The goal is to highlight the lack of security protocols by universities and schools managing student data and the potential hazards including hackers releasing student information

This article explores the concept behind the newly coined term "Big Data." The author delves into emerging ethical issues that utilization of big data sets bring to a new age ----imploring readers to consider these issues closely.

Within this article, authors Kate Crawford, Kate Miltner and Mary L. Gray (International journal of communication (Online). (June 1, 2014): p1663.) explore what they deem as the "big data phenomenon". Big data sets and the art of implementing them has gained traction within the last decade from health care to advertising. Authors explore why the concept of data science is now more popular than ever and what that may mean for the future.

The importance of including how to properly and ethically use student data, in the digital education world, in postsecondary education programs

Lack of training for teachers and its impacts concerning student personal information and data collection

This report out of NYS looks at a variety of issues regarding data privacy in NYS School districts. It looks at the number of violations, the cause of the violation, and advisement to districts of how to avoid these problems.

Best practices for protecting student data *Step 3*

Academic libraries are creating copyright positions to respond to the evolving and litigious copyright environment associated with digital content and services. This paper reports on a study of advertisement trends for copyright positions available in academic libraries. A content analysis of job advertisement data was carried out on data generated from JobLIST , an electronic listserv of the American Library Association (ALA) where library positions from the United States and Canada are posted. Job data were generated by searching the JobLIST database using the following search terms: copyright , intellectual property , scholarly communication , repository , electronic resources , licensing , and digital.

More than half of ambulatory practice physicians currently access patient records and/or reference data from a mobile device, according to a new survey from Black Book Market Research.

Data is drawn from an inductive research project, which examined school Internet risk discourses, institutional attempts to control 'net' use and student responses to such practices, in eight educational establishments in the north of England. over three years. In examining internet regulation policy, Oswell (1998) notes that distinctions are drawn between the 'child-in-danger' and the dangerous child.While exaggerated risk discourses might result in over-blocking, with students being pushed away from using school cyberspace, the Internet simultaneously offers seductive pulls, encouraging teachers and students to be adventurous in their pursuit of knowledge online.