Closing the Gap - flexible approaches to adult learning Diana Andone, EDEN EC Antonio Teixeira, EDEN president Presentation for the IDEAL Workshop at the EADTU Conference, 29-30 October, 2015, Hagen

1. Closing the Gap:
Opportunities for Distance
Education to benefit Adult Learners
in Higher Education
Dr. Diana Andone
Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania
Executive Committee EDEN – European Distance and e-Learning
Network
#EADTU2015http://www.slideshare.net/diando70/
IDEAL Project

2. Adult education in distance and
higher education
Past year : 39% from all searches
Past year : 4% from all searches
28 October 2015

3. Past year : top 10 – related to IDEAL project, from all searches
28 October 2015

4. Google trends
https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=higher%20education%2C%20%2Fm%2F
02h32&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT-1 28 October 2015

5. Top searches for international students
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34638279
28 October 2015

6. Studies
IDEAL Final report: Increasing participation
levels of adult learners in higher education
through distance education
October 2015
http://idealproject.eu/downloads/

7. Studies
Adult Education and Open Educational Resources
September 2015
This study reviews the current use of Open Educational
Resources in Adult Education, assesses its potential and
makes recommendations for policy interventions, taking
account of the European Commission’s policy frameworks.
It incorporates new research on over 12 Member States,
leveraging on a synthesis of existing research from a range
of projects including POERUP (Policies for OER Uptake) and
a 2014-15 study on Shared OER for the Joint Research
Centre, augmented by two more recent studies for JRC and
LLP.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.ht
ml?reference=IPOL_STU(2015)563397

8. Studies
Learning for Life: The Opportunity for Technology to
Transform Adult Education
ADAM NEWMAN | TYTON PARTNERS |OCT 9TH, 2015
A two-part publication series on instructional
technologies within adult education
http://tytonpartners.com/tyton-wp/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/Learning-for-Life_The-Oppty-
for-Tech-to-Transform-Adult-Education_March-20151.pdf

9. Worldwide Participation in Higher Education is
Expected to Grow ~60% by 2025…
2011 2025
Worldwide Participants in Tertiary
Education, 2011 and 2025 Projected
In order to
accommodate these
98 million new
students, four major
universities of
30,000+ students
would need to open
every week for the
next 15 years
Source: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/a-different-world/2001128.article; OECD indicators Education at a
Glance 2012 and Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution, UNESCO 2009
165M
263M
What about HE in countries with less widely used languages?

10. NMC Horizon 2015
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2015-horizon-he-
preview.pdf
What are the challenges/trends for HE in mid-size countries,
non-English speaking students?

11. Enthusiasm for Technology
Free Technology
Free courses
Funding???
Higher education
readiness and possible
solutions
Mobile

12. Enthusiasm for Technology

13. Communication & Technology Renaissance
Sharing & creating
knowledge,
education,
information,
life experiences,
Using (open & free) technology

14. Digital Natives

15. March 2014, www.deloitte.com/us/tmttrends

16. Pew Research
Center (2014)

17. Pew Research Center (2015)

18. Digital students & Technology
PewInternet Research

19. Digital students & Technology
PewInternet Research

20. Tyton Report September 2015

21. Free Technology
Free courses
Funding???

22. OPEN ….

23. Open Initiatives - Initial MOOCs
• Open University UK (1969 - )
• AllLearn (Oxford, Yale and Stanford
collaboration) 2000-2006
• Fathom (University of Columbia) 2000-2003
• MIT OCW (2001 -)
• OpenCourseWare Consortium (1999 -

24. OCW

25. http://www.oerplatform.org/
http://openeducationeuropa.eu/
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-
information/access-to-knowledge/open-educational-resources/

26. POERUP: Policies for OER Uptake
Inventory of 133 notable OER initiatives
worldwide
http://poerup.referata.com/w/images/POERUP_D2.3_Comparative_Analysis_of_Transversal_OER_Initiatives_v
1.0.pdf
poerup.referata.com

28. Higher education readiness and
possible solutions
Mobile

29. Antonio TEIXEIRA,
EDEN President

30. EDEN Projects
Digital resources as a new strategical factor for
a renovation of modernization in higher
education (D-TRANSFORM)
http://www.dtransform.eu/

31. EDEN Projects
http://www.openbadges.eu/
Open Professional Collaboration for Innovation
(OpenPROF) http://www.openprof.eu/

32. Question
Who in here has taken a MOOC?
Have you ever dropped a MOOC?
Have you ever completed a MOOC?

33. April 17, 2014
Impact of MOOCs
Across Age,
Gender, and
Course Type
Infographic: Global
MOOC statistics
eCampus News, Meris Stansbury
http://www.ecampusnews.com/rese
arch/infographic-moocs-global-436/
Inforgraphic:
https://magic.piktochart.com/outpu
t/1747660-moocs

34. February 20, 2014
Education Level
Harvard and MIT MOOC Data
Lawrence Biemiller, Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/harvard-and-mit-release-visualization-tools-for-trove-of-mooc-data/50631?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

35. Age
(Harvard and MIT MOOCs)
Lawrence Biemiller, February 20, 2014, Chronicle of HE
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/harvard-and-mit-release-visualization-tools-for-trove-of-mooc-data/50631?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

36. May 27, 2015
The Invisible Learners Taking MOOCs,
George Veletsianos, Inside Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/invisible-learners-taking-moocs

37. September 15, 2015
MOOCs for Social Impact
Social Learning for Social Impact, edX
Join the world’s first GROOC – a MOOC for groups – to collaborate with
others globally and create social change.
https://www.edx.org/course/social-learning-social-impact-mcgillx-groocx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=36&v=WNg-5LFAMdI

38. September 22, 2015
MOOC Benefits and Impact
Who’s Benefiting from MOOCs, and Why
Chen Zhenghao, Brandon Alcorn, Gayle Christensen, Nicholas Eriksson,
Daphne Koller, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why

39. September 22, 2015
Who’s Benefiting from MOOCs, and Why
Chen Zhenghao, Brandon Alcorn, Gayle Christensen, Nicholas Eriksson, Daphne
Koller, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2015/09/whos-benefiting-from-moocs-and-why

40. Certificate Earners
(Harvard and MIT MOOCs)
Lawrence Biemiller, February 20, 2014, Chronicle of HE
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/harvard-and-mit-release-visualization-tools-for-trove-of-mooc-data/50631?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en

41. Learning for Enjoyment vs.
Credentials and Badges

42. “Just play around with ideas for alternatives to
printed texts and don't be afraid to create your
own, even if they're amateurish…I think we need to
de-emphasise formal assessment and accreditation
and encourage our playful side to see what is
possible. Too much informal learning wants to get
itself 'badged' or validated too quickly and this
means its losing its genuine amateur status.”
Learning for Enjoyment vs. Credentials
and Badges
Curt Bonk, MOOCs and Open Education, International Journal on Open Learning, AACE, 2015

43. October 1, 2015
Digital badges hit the big time in higher ed: Micro-credential programs
target professionals needing a skills boost, Matt Zalaznick, University
Business, October 2015
http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/digital-badges-hit-big-time-higher-ed

44. August 5, 2015
Nanodegrees and Microcredentials
How Nanodegrees Are Disrupting Higher Education
John Waters, Campus Technology
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/08/05/how-nanodegrees-are-disrupting-higher-education.aspx

45. October 7, 2015
MIT Unveils ‘MicroMaster’s,’ Allowing Students to Get Half Their Degree
From MOOCs, Andy Thomason, Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/mit-unveils-micromasters-allowing-students-to-get-half-their-degree-from-
moocs/105615?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en&elq=5df23adc260141d79bb6b8d5f282aa4a&elqCampaignId=154
9&elqaid=6450&elqat=1&elqTrackId=5dc2477c7c354ee48373a9522da104c5

46. Impact of Mobile MOOCs
(e.g., mobile courses on smartphone)

47. Impact in Higher Education …?

48. Flipped classroom
• Use of OERs
• Integrating MOOCs
• International co-
operation for in
class activities
• Opening education
• Online study skills
for students
• cMOOCs

49. cMOOCs
cMOOCs provide great opportunities for non-
traditional forms of teaching approaches and
learner-centered pedagogy where students learn
from one another (Dron & Anderson, 2014)
cMOOCs
Connect
Network
Learner-centered
Peer founded
OERs, xMOOCs
xMOOCs
Platform
Academic oriented
Assessment
Linear

50. Flipped classroom & blended learning
• Giving students more opportunities to work
collectively
• new methods of teaching STEM subjects and
new approaches to engineering education
• Online Study skills for students’ lifelong
learning
• Awareness and experimentation in a (some-
what) supervised environment

51. Variants of blending MOOCs in university courses
Holotescu, C., Grosseck, G., Cretu, V., Naaji, A. (2014).
Integrating MOOCs in Blended Courses

52. Integrating MOOCs in UPT, Romania
• 5 professors
• 11 courses at UG and Master level
• Since 2013
• MOOCs used as OER, course additional
resources, project work
• Some students attended 2 courses with
MOOCs integration as a flipped classroom &
blended learning model

53. MOOCs for Master students in Multimedia
Technologies
Study for 9 months – Spring 2014, Autumn 2014
34 Master students – course in Usability and
Interaction
27 Master students (same students as in previous
course) – course in Instructional Technologies
• To attend actively a MOOC, comment, produce a
report and analyze
– 25% final mark

54. MOOCs for Master students in
Multimedia Technologies
• MOOCs & OERs: Course additional resources and project
work
• Students own selection of the attended MOOCs
• CVUPT - University VLE- blog, wiki for discussions and
analyse
• Students submitted final evaluation report of their
experience in MOOCs, following the topics: the technical
environment, the platform usability, quality of learning
materials, activities performed and communication tools
• Online questionnaire and in-class discussion

55. MOOCs for Master students in
Multimedia Technologies
• 33% live MOOCs
• 93 % completed with certificate
• 87 % previously attended another MOOC
• Online discussion in course blog, wiki and face-
to-face
• Evaluation as a MOOC course report
(instructional and technological)
• Students’ perception of MOOCs technical
environment and usability

56. • 57 % students considered activities in MOOC as
normal higher education activities
• Comparing with regular university materials:
45% similar quality
• 73% accessed courses from mobile
• The best reasons to attend: free, easy access,
anytime learning: 5 (scale 1-5)
Students’ Learning analysis of different MOOC
platforms

57. Integrating MOOCs in HE course
activities and pedagogical benefits
Activities in the HE course (in CVUPT) Pedagogical benefits
Face-to-face activities
Discussions for deeper understanding of
the course topics/requirements
Learner-centric teaching
Feedback on assignments
Online activities on
CVUPT
Follow course materials
Self-paced study for different
learning styles, enhanced focus
and attention
Discussions of OER, MOOCs and CC
licenses
Openness to/culture of
knowledge-sharing and re-use,
exploitation of the OER
movement benefits, critical
thinking
Project work: online course/ training /
ICT help development
Collaboration in local learning
community

58. Activities in the HE course (in
CVUPT)
Pedagogical benefits
Group work Online course project
Skills for collaborative work: challenge
assumptions, delegate roles and
responsibilities, share diverse
perspectives, find effective peers to
emulate, collaborative tools usage
MOOC
Study MOOC materials (short
videos, podcasts, presentations)
and answer to corresponding
quizzes
Self-paced/active learning
Solve assessments Retrieval learning, gamification
Evaluation of peer assignments
Peer-assessment, assuming objectivity
and responsibility
Discussions / feedback in MOOC
forums
Participation in global learning
communities, instant feedback
MOOC selection
Skills for continuing and for learning
autonomy, self-assessment of learning
objectives

59. For students:
• autonomy in assessing their own learning needs for
choosing the MOOCs in which to participate
• New digital skills
• Developing study skills for lifelong learning
• Interaction and collaboration
• the curated use of information
– analyse & sythesis
Benefits/Challenges of MOOCs
integration in flipped classrooms

60. Contradictions & Challenges
• For teachers:
• to oppose uniformity and self-sufficiency
New skills and tasks:
• complex course design/management
• OERs and MOOCs curating
• New evaluation and assessments methods
• New digital skills
Image: http://www.spafuturethinking.com/blog/

61. Advantages
• Fading traditional education barrier
• developing/improving digital skills
• always connected to real-life situations
• access to latest technology
• experiencing a more fundamental form of
self–education and open-education
• learning from the stream: there are thousands
of colleagues/practitioners/experts from all
over the world to interact with

62. Wicked
• eliminating the confusion with distance
education: universities that already have
implemented this model, use information
technology as a support for education, and not
as an alternative
• for MOOCs in HE facilitators, prior experience
in designing and running online courses is
needed
• a strategy for assessment
• Credits transfer

63. ENGAGE

64. Prospective students to OUR students
http://rubyforwomen.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Weakness_Strength.jpg

65. Have you included MOOCs in your HE
class?
What are the biggest threats for HE with
regards of MOOCs (non-widely spoken
languages countries)?

67. CONTACT
Dr. Diana Andone
Director
e-Learning Center
Email: diana.andone@upt.ro
Web
Elearning.upt.ro/diana.andone
@diando70
http://www.slideshare.net/diando70/
EDEN Fellow 2011
#EADTU 2015