Newsletter - November 2024
MOOCs - digital learning and Gen AI
I’m currently working on a project for a London university to design with subject experts some courses to run on the MOOC platform, EdX. I’ve never had the chance to look under the bonnet of EdX before so it’s interesting to see what is there and what isn’t. Ultimately the tools are no different than those offered by virtual learning environments or other short course platforms such as Teachable of Thinkific. The difference is mainly size, institutional buy-in, and a payment model which makes most courses free to take, but charges a price if you want a certificate to prove your completion.
Of course, MOOCs are well known to enroll thousands or even millions of learners on courses, but to see very few of those learners make any significant headway in the course. I admit to being one of those who signs up every now and then and beyond a brief look, never take it seriously. Lack of time is mainly the reason, and only on a few courses where I have been significantly motivated to complete, has the story been any different.
When I and the other learning designers was first granted access to the EdX platform it was strongly suggested that we completed a course about how to design courses on EdX. Most of the modules was little more than a glorified FAQ, turned into a course format, but the first module “Designing a Course with EdX” was actually quite enjoyable. It focused more on learning theories and course design than on EdX itself and despite its focus on the EdX platform was worthwhile for anyone starting out in learning design.
“Digital learning is a piece of vernacular whose meaning has evolved and will continue to do so. It has emerged - for now at least - as a term that encompasses a range of educational practices and approaches, underpinned by the use of digital technologies, cultures and affordances. In essence, it refers to learning that takes place mediated by digital means supported by digital technologies. What matters is the ‘learning’; the digital dimension, as we have seen, can exist without ‘learning’. (J. Simon Rofe, p. 40).
This quote comes from a book I was involved in, the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) 2023 edited collection Online and Distance Education for a Connected World (available for free online) I co-wrote two chapters in that book and I’m colleagues with most of the other contributors as part of my CODE Fellowship. This includes J. Simon Rofe, who wrote the chapter containing these words.
When I read this chapter a few years ago, I didn’t pay it too much attention, but I’ve been thinking about it lately. With the rise of GenAI the meaning of digital learning has moved into a new era of flux and rapid transition. It’s extremely difficult to know what learning will look like when supported by digital technologies just a month from now, not alone five or ten years time.
What rings loudly for me right now though is the last line: “What matters is the ‘learning’”, so perhaps there is something here about the increased importance of learning outcomes to guide learners from their starting point to a useful end point; one where AI can be a useful guide and tool, but not one which replaces learning with copy and paste.
Simon mentioned that the digital aspect looks after itself, which is most certainly true and this is where the danger of Gen AI lies - the replacing of knowledge and learning with surface understanding. I’ve read a few pieces recently on Substack about the vital importance of keeping the experts involved to double-check what Gen AI outputs create. Indeed, Alexandra Miahi’s recent Educationist essay looks at the very subject of keeping skills and knowledge in play and is well worth a close read.
That’s it for this week. I haven’t made any further progress on designing my own online course about the history of honeybees but it’s still very much on my ‘to-do’ list. Beside working on the EdX courses I have been assisting with Moodle tasks, and we’re a good few weeks into the latest round of the University of London’s PGCert in Learning and Teaching. Very soon I’ll be holding a series of 1-1 tutorials to help the learners with their first assignments. This is usually good fun, as I get to hear a lot of interesting and exciting ideas about making learning, teaching, and assessment changes that will improve student learning!