Thanks for commenting. I think part of the problem is managing expectations. A lot of the hype leads to preconceptions of doing something really new but to many it isn’t – particularly us ed techies However lots of the communication side of things in particular (twitter, google+ etc) is really new to people as is using it as an integral part of their learning.

But there is a lot of work around digital literacy, ple’s and portofolios which needs some serious thought.

Looking forward to catching up next week

Sheila

I’ve been involving myself in the various MOOC initiatives since Stephen Downes, George Siemens and Dave Cormier began propogating the concept. I’ve just completed the edcmooc exercise and will be continuing with the Harvard course on ‘The Ancient Greek Hero’ next week.
What do I think? Well, not a lot so far. I found the edcmooc exercise mildly thought provoking but limited as a learning experience and deeply entrenched in conventional pedagogy and use of resources. I got the impression that it was one of these scenarios where everyone vaguely thinks that it is a good idea, but in practice it just blunders around randomly bumping into elements of learning effectiveness largely by chance.
I shall persevere, however.I firmly believe in the future globalisation of learning through the internet, but only after we have cast off those enduring shackles of institutional education (…!)

Anyway, hope to see you at the Cetis conference next week.

Of course I can share how I did it. I basically used a free software package called Gephi and followed this tutorial from Tony Hirsthttp://blog.ouseful.info/2011/07/07/visualising-twitter-friend-connections-using-gephi-an-example-using-wireduk-friends-network/.

If you are in the mooc facebook group it is very simple as you have access to the data. Just install this app
https://apps.facebook.com/netvizz/ – and download the file and put that into Gephi then follow the tutorial. Make sure you get a .gdf file. You can choose the type of data either friends or interactions. The MOOC group is very big so you might want to start with your own personal network first. I’m very much a novice at this and it is a bit trial and error but Tony’s blog is a great resource too.

Sheila

Since joining this MOOC I’ve learnt the basics of using TAGS and have used it each week for the chats. I was wondering how you were able to analyse the Facebook group? Is a similar technique used? Are you able to share your secrets? I would love to be able to learn how to use such software.

Thanks for the blog, I much enjoyed your post.

Sheila

A question I have is about the use of MOOCs to teach something other than MOOCs and their implications! It seems to always develop as a discussion topic even on courses ostensibly on statistics, history, etc.

As for the assignment/credit. I’m not sure. I’d like to complete this MOOC certainly, but it’s a busy time and I suspect that’s true of many participants. The excitement and accessibility of MOOCs and other forms of online learning can sometimes obscure the fact that if these are really meant to be ‘courses’ then that means we have to put in effort as students and that means carving out a time commitment and not just surfing along. One of the issues then is for MOOC designers to come up with an appreciation of , and to notify learners about, just how much time needs to be spent on each topic and to seriously examine how realistic an expectation that might be for their intended target population. Of course, from experience in distance learning and learning design, there are ways of doing this, but many other MOOCs seem to have not given this much real consideration and simply bludgeon their way through lecture after lecture.

That’s another strength of #edcmooc I guess. The material is all up front, and it is clear that the ‘workload’ needn’t be too onerous, depending on how much effort you are prepared to put into the assignment and discussion components.