One of the most difficult aspects of the research was finding conclusions and answers to my research questions. MOOCs are a very new format of digital online learning (starting in 2008). Not many studies have been done about them. The few that exist are qualitative and rely on small sample sizes for data. Still, they have succeeded in capturing and confirming the difficulties of participating in a MOOC: primarily, its lack of structure and too much information to process; secondarily, if one isn't comfortable with the software and websites needed for participation, many barriers to deep engagement.
Ideally, I would like to have found out answers about how participants benefit from MOOCs, looking at the different participation levels at which they self-select and how they handle processing so much information and making sense of it. I think there are many research possibilities here: self-regulated learning (is this a skill that can be taught?), dealing with cognitive overload and lessening its effects, how design/tool usage can help people process information better. No studies have yet been done about these aspects.
I found the three levels of participation interesting and worthy of study, as it seems that participants are getting different benefits from all three. Lurking, which consists mostly of reading posts in discussion forums, is available to all. Being “memorably active”, which requires creating projects and offering them to the group for feedback, entails being fluent in any media creation software, time to make the project, and already having a fair amount of knowledge on the topic. I can assume that, as with all learning, MOOC participants “start where they are”; are there conditions, however, that should be met prior to participating in a MOOC which could optimize the benefits of it?
Running my own survey gave me answers that I needed in order to confirm my experience and to help me think about how to adapt MOOCs for middle and high school students. Through the generous idea sharing and anecdotes from the self-selected sample, I read about many helpful ideas and insights that I could use in developing a MOOC for younger students. At this point, it is still a lot of trial and error, as with many other parts of online learning. I'm seeing more clearly how, with a group working together on it, educators will eventually figure out best practices, models and designs.
Recommending that we do interviews was a great idea, as it provided me the opportunity to get information that I needed to learn more about the relatively new and quickly evolving field of online learning. In these conversations, via Skype and email, I was able to ask questions that helped me fill in gaps in my knowledge about the topic. They acted as supplements to the information found in the few studies. Since I think that well-done qualitative studies can be very useful, and these interviews could be the basis for doing a more in-depth set of interviews on the topic, they might point me in the right direction for some conclusive findings about how MOOCs work.
New questions:
Ideally, I would like to have found out answers about how participants benefit from MOOCs, looking at the different participation levels at which they self-select and how they handle processing so much information and making sense of it. I think there are many research possibilities here: self-regulated learning (is this a skill that can be taught?), dealing with cognitive overload and lessening its effects, how design/tool usage can help people process information better. No studies have yet been done about these aspects.
I found the three levels of participation interesting and worthy of study, as it seems that participants are getting different benefits from all three. Lurking, which consists mostly of reading posts in discussion forums, is available to all. Being “memorably active”, which requires creating projects and offering them to the group for feedback, entails being fluent in any media creation software, time to make the project, and already having a fair amount of knowledge on the topic. I can assume that, as with all learning, MOOC participants “start where they are”; are there conditions, however, that should be met prior to participating in a MOOC which could optimize the benefits of it?
Running my own survey gave me answers that I needed in order to confirm my experience and to help me think about how to adapt MOOCs for middle and high school students. Through the generous idea sharing and anecdotes from the self-selected sample, I read about many helpful ideas and insights that I could use in developing a MOOC for younger students. At this point, it is still a lot of trial and error, as with many other parts of online learning. I'm seeing more clearly how, with a group working together on it, educators will eventually figure out best practices, models and designs.
Recommending that we do interviews was a great idea, as it provided me the opportunity to get information that I needed to learn more about the relatively new and quickly evolving field of online learning. In these conversations, via Skype and email, I was able to ask questions that helped me fill in gaps in my knowledge about the topic. They acted as supplements to the information found in the few studies. Since I think that well-done qualitative studies can be very useful, and these interviews could be the basis for doing a more in-depth set of interviews on the topic, they might point me in the right direction for some conclusive findings about how MOOCs work.
New questions:
-When a field is very new and there are few studies available, how are these initial studies viewed?
-What is the best way to conduct research on topics that have so many variables?
-What is the best way to conduct research on topics that have so many variables?
-When a topic has very few studies to orient researchers, what is the best way to approach research?
Great questions! Generally, if there is so little information out there, you do what you did--you talk to people, do case studies, survey the field, etc. You need to do this to decide what variables are important. This is actually the fun part of research!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! All of the aspects you mention above were fun to do -- I really enjoyed the research and discovery.
ReplyDelete