The ideals and reality of participating in a MOOC
Lancaster, University of Lancaster, (2010)Abstract
‘CCK08’ was a unique event on Connectivism and Conn
ective Knowledge within a MOOC
(Massive Open Online Course) in 2008. It was a cou
rse and a network about the emergent
practices and the theory of Connectivism, proposed
by George Siemens as a new learning theory
for a digital age. It was convened and led by Steph
en Downes and George Siemens through the
University of Manitoba, Canada. Although the event
was not formally advertised, more than 2000
participants from all over the world registered for
the course, with 24 of these enrolled for credit.
The course presented a unique opportunity to discov
er more about how people learn in large open
networks, which offer extensive diversity, connecti
vity and opportunities for sharing knowledge.
Learners are increasingly exercising autonomy regar
ding where, when, how, what and with whom
to learn. To do this, they often select technologie
s independent of those offered by traditional
courses. In CCK08 this autonomy was encouraged and
learning on the course was distributed
across a variety of platforms.
This paper explores the perspectives of some of the
participants on their learning experiences in
the course, in relation to the characteristics of c
onnectivism outlined by Downes, i.e. autonomy,
diversity, openness and connectedness/interactivity
. The findings are based on an online survey
which was emailed to all active participants and em
ail interview data from self-selected
interviewees.
The research found that autonomy, diversity, openne
ss and connectedness/interactivity are indeed
characteristics of a MOOC, but that they present pa
radoxes which are difficult to resolve in an
online course. The more autonomous, diverse and ope
n the course, and the more connected the
learners, the more the potential for their learning
to be limited by the lack of structure, support an
d
moderation normally associated with an online cours
e, and the more they seek to engage in
traditional groups as opposed to an open network. T
hese responses constrain the possibility of
having the positive experiences of autonomy, divers
ity, openness and connectedness/interactivity
normally expected of an online network. The researc
h suggests that the question of whether a
large open online network can be fused with a cours
e has yet to be resolved. Further research
studies with larger samples are needed, as is an in
vestigation into the ethical considerations which
may need to be taken into account when testing new
theory and practice on course participants.