OLDaily

Feature Article
Are MOOCs Open Educational Resources? A literature review on history, definitions and typologies of OER and MOOCs
Christian M. Stracke, Stephen Downes, Grainne Conole, Daniel Burgos, Fabio Nascimbeni, Open Praxis, 2020/04/09

This article discusses whether MOOCs should be considered as OER. Open Education and OER can be treated as two strands with different historical roots even though, in theory, OER are an aspect of Open Education. Different OER definitions and typologies are analyzed in relation to their dimensions and categorizations.

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An Exploration Into the Importance of a Sense of Belonging for Online Learners
Susi Peacock, John Cowan, Lindesay Irvine, Jane Williams, International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 2020/04/09

With such a tiny study it's hard to generalize on the conclusion, but the article may be useful as an anecdote describing methods and approaches to creating a sense of belonging in an online class. It's a good article, but the authors, however, were unable to resist the urge to generalize, arguing "Online learners in a new and potentially alienating environment, remote from the physical campus and separated physically from their peers, seem to be especially in need of a sense of belonging." Maybe that's true, but they haven't shown that, and a proper assessment of their research should present it as a design study, not empirical data. See also a very similar but more theoretical study from last year by the two lead authors. And this course toolkit on the same tropic.

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What I learned from leaving academic philosophy
Samuel Kampa, The Philosophers' Cocoon, 2020/04/09

The coronavirus is going to wreck the academic job market. And not just for philosophers. "The landscape of higher education will be unrecognizable at best and decimated at worst. Philosophy departments will stop hiring. Universities will receive less funding from states and lower yields from endowments. Enrollments will shrink at an even faster rate. Driven by the necessity to teach at scale, colleges will increasingly shift classes online. One by one, non-elite liberal arts colleges will shut their doors. And all but the most elite graduate students will feel the pain of the contraction." But on the other hand: "Who needs you more: an academic insiders' club that tells you, over and over again, that you're not wanted; or the diverse and vulnerable world outside the ivory tower?"

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4 Ideas for Student-Led Learning During Emergency Remote Teaching
George Couros, Connected Principals, 2020/04/09

I think this is a pretty good question: “What are you doing for students that they can be doing themselves?” This question assumes a new importance with educators scrambling to prepare classes and with emergency efforts to help the most marginalized taking top priority. Not all suggestions will work for all students, but you'll get the idea (quoted): 1. Reading for a group of their peers; 2. Involving students in providing feedback; 3. Online Identity Day; 4. Student-Led Personal Development.

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Facts, beliefs, and misinformation
Maria Ferguson, Phi Delta Kappan, 2020/04/09

This column looks at "why people hold onto incorrect (and even dangerous) beliefs and what schools can do about it." The current pandemic is the obvious context. Maria Ferguson points to some well-known observations, for example, that "we trust other people to supply the evidence and describe it to us," and these other people sometimes lie. Also, there's "the phenomenon of confirmation bias." The obvious answer - which she explores - is that schools should focus on information literacy. But even so, she argues (correctly), "blindly ignoring facts and evidence is far less about stupidity and much more about human nature." Greed and self-interest lead people to ignore the data. So the hard (but most correct) response is that we should teach people to be less self-interested. Not an easy task in today's selfish age.

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“Doing no harm” in and through education
2020/04/09

I have long advocated an educational equivalent of 'do no harm'. I've thought of this principle specifically in terms of inflicting harm. For example, "A lack of alternatives is no reason to delay removing classroom material that incites hatred against a minority." But 'do no harm' can be an absolutist principle (or, in the jargon of ethicists, 'monist'). "Do no harm means this decision should not be made by balancing probabilities; it must err on the side of not making the situation worse by accident, not by gambling on promises coming true." OK, fair enough. But what about this: "The Philadelphia School District... has decided that it will not offer remote instruction during the coronavirus shutdown citing equity concerns. 'If that’s not available to all children, we cannot make it available to some.'" I'm not as comfortable as this. I don't think you lessen the harm to some by inflicting equal harm on everybody. On the other hand...

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Playful Learning in Higher Education
Dinant Roode, 2020/04/09

I wish Dinant Roode had expanded more on this thought in this short post, but it's still a useful reflection. "The traditional paradigm holds that learning needs to be serious. If you’re having fun, you’re doing something wrong." he says. "But is it true? Does serious learning require us to be serious?" I don't think so (which is why I've never been a fan of the phrase 'serious games') and I don't think Roode thinks so either. "What if teaching was all about letting that playful learning unfold – making it possible, acting as host and referee, and bringing out the qualities of curiosity, competition and desire in students? Wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to teach – and to learn?

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Don’t let a crisis define the brief
Ewan McIntosh, notosh, 2020/04/09

This is perhaps the best thing I've seen Ewan McIntosh write, not the least because it gives us a glimpse behind the curtain. The gist, though, is quite simple: when brought in as a consultant (marketing or otherwise), the first thing to address is the problem the client wants to solve - the 'brief' - and through conversation and analysis, determine what the client actually needs to solve (this parallels exactly the negotiation on Yahoo help forums described by Erin Brewer 15 or so years ago). Just so, write McIntosh, we should be redefining the brief nature has provided us with the pandemic. "Do your research into what works, and doesn’t work, before the crisis came along and during it, right now... Then ask what assumptions are hiding in all those things that work well — are they working well today, in the light of this crisis? Why not? "

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