Research – Page 32 – Digital Learning Dispatches

The National Institute for Digital Learning hosted a number of visiting scholars in the month of December, many of which gave interesting and engaging talks that dealt with the implications and development of MOOC’s. MegBenke1.17.17 One such visitor was Professor Meg Benke, of New York State University. Visiting on December 14^th, Meg gave a visiting scholar presentation on current and future trends in both online and blended learning. Higher education, and the education system in general, is in a period of transformation, on a level which has not been seen for quite some time. The questions of how best to improve student learning and how technology-enhanced learning will play a part in this future are difficult questions to answer. Benke’s presentation aimed to tackle this topic, and proved to be a fascinating talk for the members of staff present.

Another notable academic visitor in December was Dr Tom Farrelly of IT Tralee. Farrelly’s talk, titled Who Owns My Lectures? An Exploration of Academic Ownership in the Digital Age, took place on December 18^th, and discussed the fascinating area of academic intellectual property in a digital age. This argument is a difficult one, as there are many people who make the case for academic information being openly accessible to best realise positive externalities.

s200_tom.farrelly While it is true that, in most cases, teachers and lecturers are happy to have their notes and PowerPoints shared online, there are often exceptions. Examples of this include, but are not exclusive to, a YouTube video with several hundred thousand hits, a popular book, or a MOOC course on the platform Udemy, which may have several thousand paying students. When a producer of content is making money from it, the task of making it free while still not hindering the income of the producer is an extremely difficult task, and one that there is no clear answer to.

Members of NIDL staff were invited to voice their opinions on the topic, and the talk highlighted the fact that, while the use of online media has made the creation and sharing of educational tools incredibly simple, the impact of this on the traditional lecture and classroom layout, from which it was much easier govern teacher income is a challenge that is still very much difficult to address.

November proved to be a busy and fruitful month for NIDL, with many members being involved in multiple activities throughout the duration of the month. The number of MOOC leaners and courses continues to rise at an impressive rate across Europe, and this was recognised in the organisation of the second MOOC conference as part of the HOME project in Rome on November 30th. The event, which proved to be a big success, consisted of a ten member programme committee, two of which were NIDL members, Director Mark Brown and the programme chair for the BSc programmes, Dr Eamon Costello. The event featured numerous speakers across the day, covering a wide array of topics related to the field of MOOC’s.

Hold the Front Page: The Story of MOOCs in the Irish Media from Mark Brown

Two of the topic areas were chaired by Eamon and Mark. Eamon oversaw the section ‘Role media exposure on MOOC development’. This section featured two fifteen minute presentations, the second of which was presented by Mark. Mark’s presentation, Hold the Front Page: The Story of MOOCs in the Irish Media, proved to be one of the more interesting presentations of the day. Examining the traditional media coverage of MOOC’s since 2011, the information and data analysis clearly highlights their growing influence, with news coverage rising sharply in 2014. Following this section of the event, the following section, titled ‘Supporting the Selection of MOOC platforms’, was chaired by Mark.