1. The Friday Institute MOOCs for Educators Initiative Glenn Kleiman Friday Institute for Educational Innovation NC State University College of Education

2. Why MOOCs for Educators?
So many changes
Curriculum standards, student assessments, digital literacies, data system, teacher evaluation systems, technologies, fiscal constraints…
Large education workforce
3.8+ million teachers, 250,000+ administrators, teaching almost 50 million students.
Changing workforce
16% teacher turnover per year (about half changing schools, half leaving teaching)
Drives a need for large-scale, widely accessible, cost-effective PD GK

3. Principles of Effective PD
Deepens subject matter knowledge, understanding of learning, and appreciation of students’ needs.
Centers around critical professional activities
Builds on problems of practice that lead to reflection and professional discourse
Provides educators with opportunities to learn in the ways they will be expected to teach
Is personalized to meet individual needs
Cultivates a culture of collegiality
Is ongoing, intensive and woven into professional work.

4. The Big Question Can MOOC-like approaches be adapted to:
address educators’ professional development (PD) needs,
follow the research-based principles of effective PD and
provide scalable, accessible and effective PD?

5. MOOC-Ed Topics Digital Learning Transition in K-12 Schools
Coaching Digital Learning
Fractions Foundations
Disciplinary Literacy
Learning Differences
Statistics through Data Investigations
Teaching Mathematics with Technology
Computational Thinking (in progress)
More information on

6. MOOC-Ed Design Questions
How do we translate the principles of effective PD into the MOOC-Ed online environment?
How are MOOC-Eds different from other MOOCs?
How are MOOC-Eds different from other forms of online PD?
How does MOOC-Ed design vary for different goals, content and audiences?

7. Design Principle 1 “Experts” Researchers Teachers Administrators
Students
Course participants

8. Design Principle 2 Core resources through different media
Dig deeper optional resources
Alternative pathways
Project options
Varied discussion topics
Connected educator links

9. Design Principle 3 Discussion Forums Crowd-sourcing Twitter Chats
Project feedback

10. Design Principle 4 Case studies Expect panels Action planning
Participant projects
“Try it with your students” activities

11. Implementation Principle
Blended wrap-around graduate courses
Local teams
PLC Guides
Try with your students activities

12. Example #1: Fractions-What Would You Do Next?
Teacher working with a student
2-4 minutes
Ends at a student misconception
Participants discuss “what they would do next” with the student
Principles addressed:
Job Connected
Peer Supported
Multiple Voices
Links to Blended Learning
Let’s take a look!

13. MOOC-Ed Data Sources
Pre-registration survey: demographics, roles, goals.
Overall web analytics: visitors, visits, visit duration, pages viewed.
Detailed “click logs” of each user’s access to each unit
Discussion forum views, discussions started and comments
Discussion content for various forms of discourse analyses
Projects submitted and peer reviews
Vimeo site analytics: total views and average times by video
Crowdsourcing of resources
Course surveys
Open-ended responses from participants

14. All the Design Elements are Beneficial
MOOC-Ed Component
Beneficial
Didn’t Use
Introductory Video Presentations
85% 3%
Video Resources
91% 1%
Text Resources
95% 2%
Group Discussion 4%
Expert Panel Videos
Goals & Challenges Project
86%
11%
Feedback from Other Participants
80%
13%
Crowd-sourced Resources
81%
15%
Twitter Chats
28%
62%
Participants choose to focus their time and attention in different ways, on different topics, and in different parts of the MOOC-Ed.

15. Patterns of User Participation
249/389=64%
Level of Participation
23/95=24%
17/82=21%
32/177=18%
7/152=5%
Week: Learning Differences MOOC-Ed 2. N=895

16. Knowledge Construction in Discussions
We applied a highest phase of knowledge construction analysis to the postings under each discussion topic. This analysis classifies each discussion into one of the following five categories according to the highest phase reached in the postings under that discussion:
Sharing and comparing: Further the discussion by providing observations, opinions or examples that support or extend prior statements.
Dissonance and inconsistency: Identify areas of disagreement or potential disagreement.
Negotiation and co-construction: Explore common ground, clarify intent, seek agreement or integrate ideas.
Testing and modification: Test ideas against prior information, research and/or data and proposed synthesis of ideas.
Summary, application and metacognition: Summarize agreements, describe applications of knowledge or acknowledge changes in understanding.

17. Participation with a local group was beneficial
“This course helped members of our DLT team see the possibilities and open their minds beyond the traditional 45-minute class periods”
“The most beneficial aspect of this course was actually the F2F conversations informed and occasioned by the MOOC with the other members of my school team.”
55% of participants planned to participate with colleagues:
35% with a school or district planning team
20% with other colleagues in their school or organization
We continue to adapt based on feedback like this:
Example- In DLT2, we encouraged participants to work with local colleagues who were also interested in the course.
“[The most valuable part was] meeting as a team at my school weekly to create our self-assessment and the discussions we have had around our goals and what we are learning in the MOOC-Ed.”
“I am happy that we took part as a school team, which in turn was part of a greater District team. It is these group conversations that I found to be most helpful”

18. Questions about peer-supported learning
In what ways, and to what extent, do educators engage in peer-interactions in the discussion forum?
How do educator characteristics, such as roles, goals for taking the course, levels of experience, and comfort with online learning, influence their interactions?
What is the content and quality of peer-interactions and to what extent do they support learning?

19. Questions about self-directed learning:
Do participants stated goals for participating in the MOOC-Ed or their occupational roles lead individuals to take different paths through the course?
Are there patterns in the use and ratings of resources that differ across participants with different goals and/or roles?
Did the perceived usefulness of various course design elements differ by stated goals or occupational roles in a MOOC?

20. Questions about impact of the MOOC-Ed on participants’ knowledge and practices
Does participation in a MOOC-Ed lead to changes in participants’ professional knowledge?
Does participation in a MOOC-Ed lead to changes in participants’ professional practices?
Does participation in a MOOC-Ed lead to increase performance by students, teachers or schools (depending upon the focus of the MOOC-Ed.
See Hewlett Project evaluation report for further info:

21. Conclusions
MOOC-Eds can provide personalized, accessible, effective, scalable PD for motivated professionals
Our design principles provide a solid foundation for MOOC-Eds
The important question is not Do MOOC-Eds work? but rather:
How can we optimize the value of MOOC-Eds?
What professional development needs do they best serve?
How are they effectively blended with other PD approaches?
Notes:
Bullet 1:
To help prepare educators for the rapid changes in what, how, when, where and why their students learn.
Most effective when blended with other forms of PD
Bullet 2:
our work, and research on other types of MOOCs, supports this view
Bullet 3:
These are just a foundation - there are many complex design decisions involved in making an individual course of value to a large and diverse audience of educators.
Bullet 4:
They can provide valuable learning opportunities
They do not replace local professional learning teams, coaching, peer collaborations or face-to-face programs.

22. Reports and Chapters

23. https://place.fi.ncsu.edu/
For More Information