The Development and Implementation of a MOOC Platform Model from a Technical and Educational Perspective

The Development and Implementation

of a MOOC Platform Model from a Technical and Educational

Perspective

Student: Eng. Vlad MIHĂESCU

Supervisor: Prof. dr. eng. Radu VASIU

Contents

Motivation

Research Questions

MOOC Overview, Technologies and Research

MOOCs in Romanian Higher Education

Proposed Model

The UniCampus Demo

Conclusions and Contributions

PhD Thesis Defense - Vlad Mihăescu 2 18 Feb 2016

Motivation

MOOCs - important impact on education

The timing is right – global context

Beneficial influence of eLearning technologies

Limitations of Romanian education

» A Romanian MOOC could improve Romanian education

(assumption)

18 Feb 2016 PhD Thesis Defense - Vlad Mihăescu 3

Research Questions

Is there a need for eLearning solutions and MOOCs in Romania?

Can a MOOC improve education in Romania?

How can you measure the usability of a MOOC from an educational point of view?

Which tools and technologies influence the usability of a MOOC platform?

What is the possible educational structure for a MOOC in Romania?

What is the possible technological structure for a MOOC in Romania?


MOOCs Overview

MOOC = Massive Open Online Courses

Disruptive technology or eye-opener in education?

cMOOC vs xMOOC

Problems related to openness


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Most Important MOOC Platforms


Education and Economy Impact

Rising costs, changing demand and disruptive technologies

Online learning, rethinking the course model, reflection on university structure, development of new tools

Monetization issues – charging for: certificates, private tutoring, job applications, company training

Marketing/Branding tool for universities and teachers?

Quantity vs Quality


MOOC Technologies (*)

Social Media influence

Web 2.0 and web 3.0

Technological profile – what stands behind the platforms

Suggestions related to videos: Video type, engagement patterns, video length, pre-production planning, visual elements, personal touch


(*) Mihăescu Vlad and Vasiu Radu, "Wrapping MOOCs – Analysis From a Technological Perspective.", 10th International Conference “eLearning

and Software for Education” ELSE 2014, Bucharest, 24-25 April 2014, ISSN 2066-026X, WOS:000357153000037, vol. 1, pp. 261-264

Vlad Mihăescu and Radu Vasiu, “Use of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 in Developing a MOOC Platform”, the 7th International Conference of Education,

Research and Innovation, ICERI2014, Seville, Spain, November 2014.

Analysis of MOOCs’ Technological Profile (*)


MOOCs’ Web Hosting MOOCs’ CMS

MOOCs’ DNS

(*) Oniţa Mihai, Mihăescu Vlad and Vasiu Radu, "Technical Analysis of MOOCs.", TEM JOURNAL - Technology, Education, Management,

Informatics, ISSN 2217-8309, e-ISSN 2217-8333, WOS:000362664800007, Vol. 4, No. 1, Feb 2015, pp. 60-72..

Video and Audio Analysis of MOOC Platforms (*)


MOOCs’ video distribution systems

Video length (duration) in MOOCs

Types of video lectures

(*) Oniţa Mihai, Mihăescu Vlad and Vasiu Radu, "Technical Analysis of MOOCs.", TEM JOURNAL - Technology, Education, Management,

Informatics, ISSN 2217-8309, e-ISSN 2217-8333, WOS:000362664800007, Vol. 4, No. 1, Feb 2015, pp. 60-72..

MOOC Platforms – Moodle LCMS – open source license


Max.

Participants Brandable

Custom Analytics

Monetization

Mobile Hosting

edX 300,000 Self-

hosted

Moodle 10,000 Self-

hosted or 3rd party

courseSites (from Blackboard)

unlimited Hosted

udemy (free version)

unlimited Hosted

versal (free version)

unlimited Hosted

Comparison of free platforms for MOOCs (*)

(*) Ternauciuc Andrei and Vlad Mihăescu, "Use of Social Media in MOOC-integration with the Moodle LCMS", 10th International Conference

“eLearning and Software for Education” ELSE 2014, Bucharest, 24-25 April 2014, ISSN 2066-026X, WOS:000357153000043, vol. 1.

Research Methods in MOOCs

Analyses of courses

Reports for early projects

Learner experience

Scientific surveys

The MOOC Research Initiative

Perspective of students and teachers

Demographics analysis

Machine learning + Learning analytics


Research Methodology Used for Modeling a Romanian MOOC


ADDIE model (created by Ward, licenced under

CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

Socio-cognitive Engineering model (from M. Sharples et al, 2002)






First Research Steps

MOOC integration ↔ Independent platform

Literature content analysis

Case studies of good practices

Online surveys

Focus groups & Expert interviews


1. Analysis of MOOC Articles: Word Cloud

Analysis of over 1000 titles

Topics: education, change, future, collaboration, discussion, economy


(*) Vlad Mihăescu and Diana Andone, “A Word Cloud of MOOC Research Report”, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social

Media in Academia: Research and Teaching, SMART 2015, Voroneţ, Romania, 2015.

2. Analysis of MOOCs in Romania

EU directives

State of the art in Romania

eLearning Romania program

Romanian legislation: art. 139.c of the Law of education, no 1/2011

Integrating MOOCs in blended courses

MOOC initiatives: UniCampus, UniBuc Virtual, “Vasile Goldis” Arad, Critical Thinking (iVersity), mooc.ro


3. Analysis of Student Survey

Use of Online Educational Resources, MOOCs and videos in Romania

February – November 2015

Around 450 answers


3. Analysis of Student Survey


72% HE Diploma

60%

23-30 Years

42% Female

58% Male 75% UPT

66% Timisoara

87% Coexist Traditional Education

91% Use

80% Useful

Online education

82% Extra study

71% Theoretical courses

67% Self-assessment

OnER

Online resources

83% Video

83% Text

71% Schematics

66% Slides

Disadvantages

61% Student interaction

58% Teacher interaction

Advantages

84% Easy Access

81% Anytime

78% Anywhere

Respondents’ profiles

3. Analysis of Student Survey -MOOC Section

28% Use

48% Want

65% Coursera

25% Edx

18% Udacity

10% FutureLearn

61% Engineering

32% Personal Development

27% Social Sciences

50% Completed

10% Diploma

Romanian MOOC

72% Want

66% Engineering

50% Personal Development


3. Analysis of Student Survey - Rate the aspects of the MOOC course


0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%

1 - Low

2

3

4

5 - High

3. Analysis of Student Survey - Rate the MOOC platform


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10%

20%

30%

40%

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1 - Low

2

3

4

5 - High

3. Analysis of Student Survey - Video aspects


Video lecture category types

MOOC Video length

Video frame size Interactive part of a video

4. Analysis of Teacher Survey (*) Use of Online Educational Resources and MOOCs in

Romania

Creation and integration

in traditional education

February – November 2015

Over 100 answers


(*) Vlad Mihăescu and Radu Vasiu, “Teachers’ Perspective into Higher Education and MOOCs in Romania”, in Proceedings of the 10th International

Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL 2015, Timisoara, Romania, 2015, ISSN 1844-8933, pp. 393-398.

4. Analysis of Teacher Survey (*)


89% Higher Education

58%

31-50 Years

38% Female

62% Male 78% UPT

84% Timisoara

93% Coexist Traditional Education

83% Use

49% Create

79% Useful

Online education

85% Extra study

65% Theoretical courses

47% Tutoring

OnER

Online resources

83% Slides

79% Video

76% Images

71% Text

70% Schematics

Disadvantages

86% No Student-Tutor

Interaction

Advantages

80% Anytime

80% Anywhere

79% Easy Access

Sharing resources

Respondents’ profile



4. Analysis of Teacher Survey - MOOC Section (*)

31% Use

46% Want

94% Like

66% Coursera

31% Edx

29% Udacity

14% FutureLearn

13% Used MOOCs in class

80% Engineering

57% Recommended

66% More tutor interactivity

52% More videos

50% More information




4. Analysis of Teacher Survey -Rate the aspects of the MOOC course(*)


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

1 - Low

2

3

4

5 - High



4. Analysis of Teacher Survey - Rate the MOOC platform (*)


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5. MOOC Use in UPT – Case Study (*) Blended learning and flipped classroom in 2014-2015

34 MSc students in Multimedia Technologies, 23-28 Years, high level ICT skills -> work on the Virtual Campus cv.upt.ro

Advantages: adaptive, progress bar, learn in ones rhythm,

interactivity, accessibility,

flexibility, comfort

Disadvantages: lack of a

gradebook, technical issues,

difficulty, lack of information,

long videos, diploma


Platform User-Friendly

Intuitive

Easy to use

Attractive

Simple structure

Suggestive icons and colors

Connect with social media

Coursera yes yes yes N/A yes yes yes

udemy yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

Udacity yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

Future Learn

yes N/A yes N/A yes N/A N/A

Iversity yes yes yes yes yes yes yes

Saylor no no no N/A N/A N/A N/A

Open2 Study

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A yes

Khan Academy

N/A N/A N/A yes N/A N/A yes

EdX yes yes yes yes N/A yes N/A

(*) Diana Andone, Vlad Mihăescu and Radu Vasiu, “Using MOOCs within traditional courses: students’ perspective”, In Proceedings of E-Learn: World Conference on E-

Learning in Corporate,Government,Healthcare,and Higher Education 2015 (pp. 256-262). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).







6. Proposed Model – Romanian MOOC Structure

6. Proposed Model – Romanian MOOC Main Page


Courses

Universities/Partners

About UniCampus

Register /Log In buttons

Connect with Social Media

• Number of Users/Courses/Universities Counters

How Does the Platform Work – walkthrough about the use of the platform;

Search by Topic

Short Description/Motto – of the platform;

6 courses with title, university, starting date, thumbnail;

See All Courses button.

Footer

Copyright; Contact; About; Terms and Conditions; Help – FAQ section.

6. Proposed Model – Romanian MOOC Course Intro Page


Course Title;

University;

Tutors;

Course Description;

Course Logo/Main Page Thumbnail;

Required Knowledge Pre-course;

Course Trailer;

Social Media sharing;

Domain;

Key Words.

6. Proposed Model – Romanian MOOC Main Course Page


Course Title;

University;

Tutors;

Course Logo/Main Page Thumbnail;

About the Course

Guideline – how to best use this course and the platform;

Structure – of the course, number of weeks, name of chapters, assignments, deadlines;

Syllabus – what the course consists of;

Grading System – detail explanation about the grading possibilities;

Tutors – information about the tutors.



Weeks/Chapters

Student Progress;

Chapter 1, 2,…, X – course material;

Wiki;

Bibliography and links;

Blog;

Assignments and tests

Clear Deadline;

Limited Number of Attempts;

Explanations After the Final Deadline;

Penalties Depending on the Deadline; - not automated

Save Answers and Return Later option;

• Programming Assignments with Automated Evaluation;



Discussion Forum Real-time Search Algorithm;

Course Announcements;

Course 1,2,…,X – each with its own section;

Video Answer to Most Discussed Topic;

Filtering; Subject;

Date;

Author;

• Small Talk/Bad Talk – results in downgrading;

Forum Grading/Badges of recognition; - partial



Personal Section; Profile;

Personal Notes;

Personal Blog;

Questionnaires; Pre-Course/Post-Course;

Glossary;

FAQ/Help Section;

Document Sharing; • Rubric-scoring for Peer-grading;

Google Drive;



Podcasting;

Upload of Technical Formats

(Matlab, R, XML, etc.); - some

Student Handbook;

Virtual Lab; - for programming

Each chapter should have the following options

After finishing, the possibility to share on Social Media;

Reading Material;

Additional Links;

Test;



Video Lesson

Download option;

• Transcript;

Subtitles;

• Annotations;

• Additional Information; Links; Quizzes

Modify the volume/resolution/speed;

Restart the lesson;

Jump to next/previous lesson;

Help Link – to FAQ section regarding videos on the platform;

Forum Link – to this section from the discussion forum;



Calendar/Schedule;

Meet Up tools;

Virtual Study Room;

• Google Hangout;

Conferencing Tool Audio/Video;

Social Media

Connect with the Students’ Account/ to profiles/pages/groups of the course

Badges;

To-do List Tool;

• Interactive Map with the students who are enrolled in the course;

Adaptive Media;

6. Proposed Model – Experts Evaluation Full support of the proposed structure » encouragement of

implementation.

Merge ‘Register/Log in’ with Register/Log in with Social Media.

Counter for users/courses integrated in other sections, only after

greater numbers.

‘Search by institution’ option.

In the ‘Course intro page’ - Connected/Recommended courses as well.

The wiki tool is not useful for the non-connectivist courses.

Podcasting useful only for a limited amount of course types.

The video answer for the most discussed topic - a very good idea.

Collaborative translation possibility for subtitles.


7. UniCampus Main Page


7. UniCampus Main Page


7. Moodle Customization for UniCampus Implementation Moodle 3.0 Version

Pioneer Theme

Social Media authentication


7. UniCampus Customization


7. Course Demo in UniCampus: Open Education Week 2015


7. Course Demo in UniCampus: Open Education Week 2015


8. UniCampus – Experts Evaluation

Positive overall opinion

Visual aspects – perfectible.

‘About’ section description - should only be visible in

the main course page.

Forum chapters integrated in each week + Forum tool

in the right side menu.

Proper explanations of content.

Enlarge the display area for educational content.


8. UniCampus – Students Evaluation

• Focus groups

• Positive reviews

• Integration with social

media

• Multiple choice vs

mini-essay quiz

• Frequency and relevance

of quizzes

• Videos – use of subtitles and transcripts; navigation

• Course Completion Status & Badges

• Preferred content: video, ppt/pdf, html/external links


8. UniCampus – Students Evaluation

• Desirability analysis – Microsoft Reaction Card method adaptation • UniCampus experience: efficient (90%), useful (90%),

accessible (72%), trustworthy (72%), organized (72%)

• 5 words best describing the video content: useful, high quality, comprehensive, efficient and trustworthy.

• 5 words best describing the tools on UniCampus: organized, efficient, easy to use, complex and familiar


Conclusions

• MOOCs have a big influence over education.

• Need of more e-Learning solutions and MOOCs for the Romanian education (survey results).

• MOOCs encourage student involvement and are beneficial in the learning process (UPT study case)

• My proposed model satisfies both educational and technological needs of students and teachers

» » possible solution


Theoretical Contributions (1)

(1) State of the art of MOOCs in relation to their appearance, development and impact and critical study of the most important platforms.

(2) Critical analysis of the debate regarding MOOC openness.

(3) Overview of technologies used in MOOCs and critical analysis of their importance.

(4) Overview of MOOCs infrastructure and critical analysis of the reasons for choosing them.

(5) Critical analysis of video related aspects in MOOCs.


Theoretical Contributions (2)

(6) Overview of MOOC research methodologies and their critical analysis.

(7) Analysis of Romanian perspectives over MOOCs: the development of a survey for students, in relation to the use of Online Educational Resources, MOOCs and videos in education.

(8) Analysis of Romanian perspectives over MOOCs: the development of a survey for teachers, in relation to the use of Online Educational Resources and MOOCs.

(9) Critical analysis of a study case regarding the use of MOOCs in courses from the Politehnica University of Timisoara.


Practical Contributions

(1) Description and creation of a model for a Romanian MOOC.

(2) Implementation of the proposed model as the UniCampus platform.

(3) Implementation of a demo course on the UniCampus platform.


Future Research Directions

Massive access testing

Integration with traditional classes

Results comparison

New courses development

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List of Published Papers (1)

1) Vlad Mihăescu, Diana Andone, Radu Vasiu, “An Analysis of Different MOOC Environments from the Students’ Perspective”, Proceedings of the European Stakeholder Summit on experiences and best practices in and around MOOCs (EMOOCS 2016), pp. 417-424, ISBN 9783739237107, 22-24 Feb 2016, Graz, Austria, Experience Track.

2) Vlad Mihăescu, Radu Vasiu, “Teachers’ Perspective into Higher Education and MOOCs in Romania”, in Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL 2015, Timisoara, Romania, 2015, ISSN 1844-8933, pp. 393-398.

3) Vlad Mihăescu, Diana Andone, “A Word Cloud of MOOC Research Report”, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Media in Academia: Research and Teaching, SMART 2015, Voroneţ, Romania, 2015.

4) Diana Andone, Vlad Mihăescu, Radu Vasiu, “Using MOOCs within traditional courses: students’ perspective”, In Proceedings of E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2015 (pp. 256-262). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

5) Diana Andone, Andrei Ternauciuc, Vlad Mihăescu and Radu Vasiu, “Integrating MOOCs in Traditional Higher Education”, European Stakeholder Summit on experiences and best practices in and around MOOCs, eMOOCs 2015, 18-20 May 2015, Mons, Belgium, Experience Track, pp. 71-75.



6) Oniţa Mihai, Mihăescu Vlad, and Vasiu Radu, "Technical Analysis of MOOCs.", TEM JOURNAL - Technology, Education, Management, Informatics, ISSN 2217-8309, e-ISSN 2217-8333, WOS:000362664800007, Vol. 4, No. 1, Feb 2015, pp. 60-72.

7) Vlad Mihăescu, “MOOCs – an important step in education”, Scientific Bulletin of the Politehnica University of Timişoara – Transactions on Electronics and Communications, Volume 59(73), Issue 2, 2014, pp. 27-30.

8) Vlad Mihăescu and Radu Vasiu, “Use of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 in Developing a MOOC Platform”, the 7th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, ICERI2014, Seville, Spain, November 2014.

9) Vlad Mihăescu, Radu Vasiu and Diana Andone, “Developing a MOOC: The Romanian Experience”, 13th European Conference on e-Learning ECEL-2014, Aalborg University Copenhagen Denmark, 30-31 October 2014, ISBN 978-1-910309-69-8, ISSN 2048-8645, WOS:000351434400043, pp. 339-346.

10) Vlad Mihăescu, “MOOC Openness - Are MOOCs as Open as They Should Be?”, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Social Media in Academia: Research and Teaching, SMART 2014, Timişoara, Romania, September 2014, WOS:000367888300059 .



11) Ternauciuc Andrei, and Vlad Mihăescu, "Use of Social Media in MOOC-integration with the Moodle LCMS", 10th International Conference “eLearning and Software for Education” ELSE 2014, Bucharest, 24-25 April 2014, ISSN 2066-026X, WOS:000357153000043, vol. 1.

12) Mihăescu, Vlad, and Radu Vasiu, "Wrapping MOOCs – Analysis From a Technological Perspective.", 10th International Conference “eLearning and Software for Education” ELSE 2014, Bucharest, 24-25 April 2014, ISSN 2066-026X, WOS:000357153000037, vol. 1, pp. 261-264.

13) Radu Vasiu, Diana Andone, Vlad Mihăescu, Radu Ticiu, “Antreprenoriat şi inovaţii digitale pentru mediul de afaceri”, Editura U.T.Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2013, 177 pag, ISBN 978-973-662-894-8.

14) Diana Andone, Radu Vasiu, Iasmina Ermalai, Vlad Mihăescu, Silviu Vert, Bogdan Drăgulescu, Daniel Ivanc, “Tehnologii Web 2.0”, Editura U.T.Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2012, 275 pag, ISBN 978-973-662-770-5.

15) Vlad Mihăescu and Silviu Vert, “Learnability Testing: a Case Study,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Virtual Learning, ICVL 2011, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 28-29 October 2011, ISSN: 1844-8933, WOS:000323685900017, pp. 135–140.

16) Vlad Mihăescu, Radu Vasiu, “Open Tourism – An E-Tourism Concept”, Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2011, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 5-8 November 2011, 5 pages.


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