Online
learning: MOOCS offer a myriad of new opportunities
Online learning is a way for institutions to
provide accessible and equitable learning experiences, as well as offering a
student-centric choice of learning platforms and the ability to easily engage
in transnational education. This applies to Australian students looking outward
as well as International students looking towards the Australian education
market.
Supporting online education to flourish
requires institution-wide collaboration across divisional boundaries, including
between Internet infrastructure operators, University IT Services departments,
Teaching and Learning professionals and university contract and marketing
staff.
Massive Open Online Courseware (MOOC)s have
grown in profile as one means of providing online education with more than 6.5
million students having enrolled in over 800 free classes produced by about 200
universities from around the globe in little over the year (Gallagher, 2013,
p.1). On the 30th July 2013, two Australian universities (UNSW and UWS)
formally joined Coursera and a new report titled Disruptive Education:
Technology-Enabled Universities by Sean Gallagher, COO, United States Studies
Centre, University of Sydney and Geoffrey Garrett, Dean, Australian School of
Business, UNSW Australia was published (see http://ussc.e-newsletter.com.au/link/id/zzzz51f8457d9a37f759Pzzzz51f759cf9b4c3607/page.html)
There’s
no denying it, the fascination with MOOCs is in full swing around the globe.
What are your views on the MOOC
phenomenon? A series of questions will
be posed over coming week and the NATA team and I would value your thoughts and
engagement. Responses to questions will be summarized, with the aim of
providing our community with insights drawn from all respondents that we can
share, learn and benefit from.
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James Sankar works for AARNet (Australia’s Academic
Research and Education Network), he is responsible for AARNet’s Enterprise
Services consulting service assisting University IT Services teams to realize
the value of timely services for learning and teaching and research. James is also a member of The Network of Australasian Tertiary
Associations
(NATA) whose mission is to improve engagement and practice through network
leadership.
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Week 1 Question:
MOOCs
– Are you involved in the design and/or delivery of a MOOC and how do you feel
about it as an effective “more than just content” learning tool?
