Week 9: Review of an MOOC

Week 9: Review of MOOC

Here is my review of the University of Amsterdam’s Methods and Statistics in Social Sciences Specialization (MSSS) course on Coursera.

I decided to join this course mainly for professional reasons. As a lecturer teaching communications courses across my university, I thought it would be useful to refresh myself on key concepts and perhaps learn new things that I can impart to my students.

After a week of the course, I will try to answer the potential questions and tensions presented by Ahn, Pellicone and Butler (2014) as a learner, as well as end-user. Completing the course will not earn me a badge, but I will get a certificate. As both are online credentials, I believe that this course is applicable to the questions posted by the authors. The style of this blog is that of an interview.

Does the source of the given badge (or the issuer affect user’s motivation to earn that badge)?

The simple answer is yes. I picked this course because it is provided by a reputable university and MOOC platform. I would not have signed up for a course designed by a random individual simply because of the nature of the subject matter. Universities, or at least the reputable ones, are known for their academic rigour and research ethics. Furthermore, they have larger databases of past research examples.

In contrast, I once enquired about Harvard Bok’s Higher Education Teaching Certificate from GetsSmarter but did not enrol after doing a bit of research online and speaking to friends in the field. Almost no one recognizes an online teaching certificate regardless of its issuer. Moreover, there were a few negative reviews about the course delivery.

With an open supply of badges, how can learners and other stakeholders find available badges, determine the pedagogic quality of a badge in terms of the skills and knowledge that are to be learned, the suitability of the learning activities, and the support available from others to earn that badge?

With regards to the pedagogic quality of a badge, I felt assured because the profiles of instructors are shared. Yes, it is quite simplistic to base the pedagogic quality of an instructor based on his or her reputation but in a scenario where one has vast experience in research and another is a random person who claims to know about the topic, I’d pick the former.

In terms of the “suitability of the learning activities” a short introduction of each module or course is provided on the MSSS Coursera webpage. In layman’s terms, this allowed me to know what I was signing up for. Moreover, the opportunity to conduct a hands-on project caught my eye.

I knew I wasn’t going to get much support from the instructors. For example, being an MOOC there might be a large number of students and it is impossible for the four instructors to provide a lot of personalized support. However, I knew that I could perhaps contact another participant via the messaging service or post a question up on the forum.

How important is the source of the badge to an employer or other interested party wishing to appraise the knowledge/skills acquired by the learner? What will it take for badges to gain credibility or status as credentials among learners and other interested parties?

In my case, I am fairly certain that my employer, a state university, will be quite strict on this. I think that this would be the same for most reputable companies such as MNCs. Smaller small-medium enterprises might be more flexible.

Coursera, in my opinion, is definitely commercializing education because students pay a fee. However, they do try to be fairly transparent about the course content and providers. Udemy on the other hand allows for random individuals to create courses for profit. It does not have any checks and balances. Here is a video by Korpershoek (2019) showing how people can make money by selling courses online.

Would a badge that is widely visible (e.g. an open badge) have different motivational effects on a learner compared to a badge that is less visible (e.g. internal and not shared)?

Yes. I have completed internal courses before with the Ministry of Education. From my experience, potential employers cared little for them. Therefore, they did not add value to my curriculum vitae. In contrast, I once stated that I was pursuing another MOOC by the University of Michigan and an interviewer did try to find out more about it from me.

How can learners access support and feedback as they go through the learning that will lead to the badge? Does openness influence the available sources of this support (e.g. more peers) or might closed systems (e.g. a formal course ensure access to more support)?

As mentioned above, I was able to get some support from other participants through the forums. We were also “forced” to give one another feedback on the activities. For example, were tasked to submit our answers on the forum. The system will only allow us to move onto the next task after giving feedback to five other participants and receiving feedback from five other participants.

However, this got a little annoying because I tended to be quite proactive in giving feedback but it took a longer time for me to receive it. It felt like my progress was slowed down by others. I think that participants on a closed formal course may have the same baseline for motivation because deadlines are fixed. From experience, participants can also remind one another of deadlines and encourage one another. On this open platform, some participants may not be as motivated with the tasks. There could also be a higher dropout rate, because some might simply quit after finding out that the course isn’t for them.

How might visibility and transparency of badges (e.g. the issuer, what the badge communicates, etc) influence the effectiveness of a badge as a credible credential)?

I believe I’ve answered this question with my previous answers.

Where learners are constructing their own learning pathways, how can they be supported in making decisions about which badges are an appropriate next step, given their current skills and knowledge, and their cultural context?

Personally, I’ve always turned to my supervisor, manager or senior colleagues for advice. As they are the ones who are appraising me or have gone through the same appraisal process, they would know what is expected of me. Also, senior colleagues have helped me identify my knowledge gaps.

Another source that I’ve used is online forums such as Quora. Do note that I consider some of the questions posted on Quora for the clinically insane (e.g. Can Karate beat MMA?). Nevertheless, I’ve gotten some useful career advice by reading some of the responses posted.

How could different populations and communities re-appropriate and re-define the meaning of a given badge as a credential? How can learners be confident that the badges they pursue will be acceptable as a credential outside of stakeholders?

The university I studied at and taught at, faced the same problem. The Singapore University of Social Sciences is only fifteen years old and it only gained “state university” status three years ago. When I was studying there from 2012 to 2016, the government made a public announcement that the degrees from the university are recognized. I think it also helped that the university continued to sign memorandums of understand with state organizations or reputable private companies, thus ensuring the legitimacy of their qualifications.

MOOC providers can do the same. Currently, most of them only provide student reviews of the course. They could get outside stakeholders to share how their courses have value added to their organisations.