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Mackness, J, Mak, S and Williams, R (2010) The ideals and reality of participating in a MOOC, proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Networked Learning 2010, University of Lancaster, available at: www.lancaster.ac.uk/fss/organisations/netlc/past/nlc2010/ abstracts/PDFs/Mackness.pdf' This is a peer reviewed scholarly article, frequently cited, based on mixed method research which studied the learners in the first connectivist MOOC. As such it was the first study of its kind. It appears to have correctly analyzed the relatively small quantitative sample of learners, including an instructor or two. Its contribution is to test the connectivist theory (Siemens and Downes) with a case. As noted in the abstract "The research found that autonomy, diversity, openness and connectedness/interactivity are indeed characteristics of a MOOC, but that they present paradoxes which are difficult to resolve in an online course. The more autonomous, diverse and open the course, and the more connected the learners, the more the potential for their learning to be limited by the lack of structure, support and moderation normally associated with an online course, and the more they seek to engage in traditional groups as opposed to an open network." P. 266 Analysis was focused on the "characteristics of connectivism outlined by Downes, i.e. autonomy, diversity, openness and connectedness/interactivity" p.266. Generally the research outlines the strengths and weaknesses of cMOOCs using this format. Not a lot of further research is recommended other than using a larger sample in future research and "the aims of experiencing learning within a massive open online network are constrained by a course framework and many design issues and aspects of learner experience remain unresolved." P. 273 Abstract "CCK08' was a unique event on Connectivism and Connective Knowledge within a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in 2008. It was a course and a network about the emergent practices

EDU681102 - Module 2, Week 2. Mark Ness, article #3.

Edited link - https://diigo.com/08285j

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

What are Open Educational Resources (OERs)? Why should I care about OERs? What are some examples of OER projects? How has UNESCO supported OERs? What is the 2012 World Open Educational Resources Congress and what are its aims? What is the Paris Declaration? How can I get involved?

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

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

Reference Gasevic, D., Kovanovic, V. Joksimovic, S., Siemens, G. (2014). Where is Research on Massive Open Online Courses Headed ? A Data Analysis of the MOOC Research Initiative. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 15(5), 135 -176. Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1954/3111

Marian, this is an involved research report on MOOC research initiative! Specifically, the issue of low course completion and high degree of student attrition was often pronounced as the key challenge of MOOCs & that understanding factors that affect student engagement, completion and success in MOOCs is a complicated psychological process. Theory of planned behavior (TPB) - used to study behavioral change - in the study's case, changing students intention to complete a MOOC and thus, increase their likelihood of course completion - it remains to be seen to what extent a student's intention can be changed if the student did not have an intention to complete a MOOC in the first place. What would be a reason that could motivate a student to change their intention in cases when she/he only enrolled in a MOOC to access information provided without intentions to take any formal assessments? Side note - are you aware of (or have you already taken) ESC's EDU-681111 Metacognitive Analysis: U Albany & Empire State College MOOC? Also, you may be interested in reading this article - Beyond MOOCs: Is IT Creating a New, Connected Age? EDUCAUSE Sprint 2013.

Open source software has made inroads into mainstream computing where it was once the territory of software altruists, and the open source culture of technological collegiality and accountability may benefit education as well as industry. This paper describes the Recourse project, which seeks to transform the computer science undergraduate curriculum through teaching methods based on open source principles, values, ethics, and tools. Recourse differs from similar projects by bringing the open source culture into the curriculum comprehensively, systematically, and institutionally. The current state of the project is described, and initial results from a pilot exercise are presented.(

Feedback for open access in academic libraries. Literature review. For the past nine months, Graham Stone and Jill Emery have been promoting OAWAL: Open Access Workflows for Academic Librarians on a blog site, through Facebook[TM], through Twitter[TM], and at in-person events in both the USA and UK to raise awareness of open access management issues in academic libraries and in an attempt to crowdsource best practices internationally. The in-person meetings used a technique known as the H Form, which can be applied to other areas of academic librarianship. This overview outlines the current project, focusing on feedback received, highlights some of the changes that have been made in response to that feedback, and addresses future plans of the project.

Anton Angelo gives a librarian's view on copyright and Open Access. Based in New Zealand, Creative Commons are champions for open access.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to evaluate open source software (OSS) for digital libraries and collection management and to propose different utilization scenarios based on the characteristics of the tools. Design/methodology/approach - The tools are assessed on the basis of their technical features and options, the type of the content they manage, the support for common library operations such as cataloging and circulation, the searching support and the interoperability options. Then they are evaluated by users and finally a number of usage scenarios are analyzed based on the results of the evaluation. Findings - The basic findings of the study is that open source digital library and collection management tools offer advanced operations and support various metadata and interoperability protocols with easy and user-friendly interfaces. Most of the tools are extensively used under various settings and establishments already. Language support for the interfaces should be extended with more languages and some tools with limited operations should be improved to be of practical use. Practical implications - The findings of the paper could be used support the selection of specific open source tools for various types of establishments. Originality/value - The study reviews the characteristics of a few OSS for digital libraries and collection management and reveals their specific strengths and weaknesses. It also presents a number of realistic scenarios and proposes the usage of specific tools based on time, technology and staff constraints

The collection of essays in this OER explore how open education resources can build a bridge towards global education and enrichment. This resource can help educators take a long-range, global view at a sustainable system, where "open" connective learning spaces have the ability to truly revolutionize education by making it accessible the world over in wholly inclusive, digitally enhanced environments.