digital dinosaurs: moocs and digital strategies at the university of alberta

E9 Digital Dinosaurs

MOOCs and Digital Strategies at the University of Alberta

Jennifer Chesney and Jonathan Schaeffer, University of Alberta

Digital Strategy

•  First Canadian university with a Digital Strategy unit

•  Amplify the UAlberta brand interna;onally To become one of the best examples of a post-‐secondary digital learning environment enabled by our web, mobile, social networks and IT systems capabili;es

Digital Strategy •  Why?

– Digital Strategy impacts more external (and internal) stakeholders more frequently and more consistently than any other method of engagement.

– Transcend and integrate silos of research, teaching, service, and student engagement

– Majority of your students are Digital Natives

Digital Strategy •  What is its focus?

– Academic & administrative goals fulfillment – Business process performance & optimization – User engagement & loyalty – Web/mobile strategy & product development – Digital learning environment & products – Social media mash-up strategy – Digital analytics & advertising

SeDng the Stage

As part of your interna;onal outreach strategy,

how many of you are already using or are considering using MOOCs?

Do you really know what you are geDng in to?

(We do!)

MOOCs

•  Massive – Scale to 100s of 1000s

•  Open – Available for free to anyone

•  Online – All material available over the Internet

•  Course – University level

•  The Campus Tsunami (03/05/2012) •  Universi;es Reshaping Educa;on (17/07/2012) •  The Year of the MOOC (12/11/2012) •  Revolu;on Hits the Universi;es (26/01/2013) •  Online Classes Fuel a Campus Debate (19/06/2013) •  Turning Educa;on Upside Down (09/10/2013) •  Online Educa;on as Agent of Transforma;on (01/11/2013)

MOOC Reality

Whether you agree or disagree with the idea behind MOOCs, they have already had one enormous benefit: When else has university

teaching been front-‐page news?

What’s Different?

•  Online courses have been around for a long ;me, so what’s different now?

•  Internet speed and accessibility •  Use of social media •  Be^er course development tools •  Financial pressures •  Automated student assessment •  Machine learning behind the scenes

University of Alberta MOOC

•  The right reasons –  Explore new technologies –  Be a research/teaching leader –  Build na;onal/interna;onal reputa;on –  Showcase our research strengths –  Set a standard for quality

•  The wrong reasons – Make money –  Eliminate instructors

Dino 101: Dinosaurs!

•  Fully accredited University of Alberta course – PALEO 200 (online) and PALEO 201 (blended)

•  Take it any ;me, any where, at your own speed •  Interac;ve quizzes •  Online assessment •  On-‐loca;on filming •  High produc;on values

The Student Experience

•  Increased flexibility •  Expanded course offerings •  Lower cost (PALEO 200 at 50% usual fee) •  One size does not fit all learners

–  In-‐class UofA experience (PALEO 201) – Online UofA experience (PALEO 200) – Online interna;onal experience (Dino 101)

Interna;onal Implica;ons

•  Student peer-‐to-‐peer collabora;on – 20,000 engaged learners – Extensive ac;vity in forums – Self-‐organizing study groups

•  Builds interna;onal reputa;on – Teaching: quality – Research: excellence

•  Recrui;ng tool

Dino 101: Lesson 2 (Claws)

The Administra;ve Side: Investment in Digital Learning Pilots

•  Current impact – Blended pilots of large-‐enrollment courses – MOOC pilots of new and exis;ng courses – Digital Strategy: producing a rigorous, university-‐level learning experience

•  Long-‐term impact – New assessment & tes;ng technologies – Machine learning research

The Administra;ve Side: Outreach Strategy

•  Highlight our world-‐class exper;se while promo;ng the province to the world

•  Provincial: Alberta has lowest PSE rate in Canada –  engage our rural communi;es

•  Na;onal: UAlberta s;ll building its cross-‐Canada profile – come for university, stay for the jobs!

•  Interna;onal: Provide paleobiology course access to the world. Who is UAlberta?

Engage our Alberta Rural Communi;es

Raise UAlberta’s Cross-‐Canada Profile

Amplify UAlberta Brand Interna;onally

Dino 101: For China, In China

The Administra;ve Side: Crea;ve Strategy

Pedagogy + Forma;ve & summa;ve assessment approaches +

Online consump;on/behavior strategy + Gamifica;on +

Earned and viral media strategy + High-‐quality filming & edi;ng produc;on =

New higher standard of rigorous university MOOC

The Administra;ve Side: Crea;ve Strategy

Keeping 20,000 global students engaged – Address online a^en;on deficit reality head-‐on – Experiment: “Binge Theory” – put the en;re course out there all at once

–  Interac;ve learning objects built in-‐house – Embedded interac;ve learning object that learners can “unlock” over the course lessons

– Aspira;onal surrogate

Geologic Time Scale

3D Fossil Viewer & Filing Cabinet

Aspira;onal surrogate model

Keeping 20,000 global students engaged – Commissioned art from leading paleo ar;sts – Sketchbook sharing in forums between UAlberta teaching assistants and students

– Comprehensive course notes for each chapter – On-‐loca;on filming throughout Alberta – All paleo grad students encouraged to engage in the Coursera forums

The Administra;ve Side Crea;ve Strategy

Commissioned Art

On-‐loca;on Filming

•  Dino 101 first offering s;ll in progress •  Interim results from op;onal, opt-‐in surveys of Dino 101 MOOC students: –  “GeDng to know you” Survey

•  n=3,500; 10 weeks in the field and s;ll open –  Mid-‐course Survey

•  n=450; 2 weeks in the field and s;ll open •  Have we significantly improved student reten;on for a free course offering? – Aspire to improve 5-‐10% reported comple;on rates – Unknown un;l Coursera grading script run in Dec 2013

Results So Far

Dino 101 MOOC Student Profile (1)

Goal achieved of gender balance for a university-‐level general science elec;ve


Is English your na;ve language?

Engagement with UAlberta (1)

Had you heard of the University of Alberta previous to enrolling in this course?


Would you like to be no;fied of future University of Alberta online courses?

Emergent Trends (1)

Full course release (aka “Binge Theory”) ma^ers

Emergent Trends (2)

Word cloud of top responses to: “What did you like best about Dino 101?”

Emergent Trends (3) Cohort, mul;-‐genera;onal, self-‐organiza;on

models could lead to team/family cer;fica;ons

Emergent Trends (4)

Offering actual university course credit ma^ers

Where Is All This Going?

•  Once technology disrupts a market, it is relentless in making drama;c changes

•  Disrup;ve change must happen… and soon –  Crea;ng rich online learning experiences – Offering courses from other ins;tu;ons –  Changing the in-‐class experience –  Crea;on of virtual universi;es

•  Exci;ng opportuni;es… for teaching and research

Partnership Opportuni;es

•  We now have exper;se in building online digital learning products that engage an interna;onal audience

•  Crea;ng a not-‐for-‐profit company specializing in high-‐quality digital learning produc;ons to serve a broader audience

THANK YOU! h.p://dino101.ca

Jennifer Chesney Jonathan Schaeffer Associate Vice President, Digital Strategy Dean of Faculty of Science [email protected] [email protected]

digital dinosaurs: moocs and digital strategies at the university of alberta

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