Liberal Arts and MOOCs

Tracy MitranoCornell University

Question?

Are MOOCs the end of traditional not-for-profit(NFP) higher education or the beginning of its renaissance?

What can the liberal arts contribute to MOOCs?

MOOCMassive (very large numbers of people, e.g. the first had

over 150,000)

Open (free to the user, anyone with an Internet connection can participate)

On-line (Internet, including mobile)

Course (open to interpretation, for example “semester” or only a few weeks, but typical in the sense of covering defined content)

Distance EducationMOOCs might be thought of as a subset of distance

education

Distance education is at least as old as correspondence courses via USPS

Military use throughout much of the 20th century

Closed-Circuit television enhanced technology

Internet Distance EducationBoth for-profit (FP) and NFP sector have sprung up riding

the tide of the Internet

Early large-scale experiments such as Fathom in the NFP “elite” schools sectors spent many millions but did not find their worth

Some smaller-scale operations still in existence, such as eCornell

Professional education (MBA) and training

“Information Technology will Transform Education!”

To date, that idea has not been realized

Rather, higher education has absorbed technology into its structure, hierarchy and traditions

Including the concepts and strictures of “classes,” “credit hour,” “degrees” (as the critical credential), and even “sage on the stage” delivery with SMART Boards and LMS

Example from CopyrightTEACH Act of 2001, amendment of copyright, designed to

bring distance, on-line, Internet education in sync with section 110, face-to-face exception.

Little used, however, because of the complicated, ambiguous terms, such as “session times” and the authentication requirement

Most institutions have fallen back on Fair Use

Precursors to MOOCsGlobal Internet and Information Economy

Greater speed, storage, reduced size and entry costs to get on the Internet

Mobile Technologies

Open software movement

Earlier examples: MIT OpenCourseWareCarnegie Mellon University Open Learning Initiative

Boom!Professor Thrun and a basic Computer Science course

Stanford professor, uses a platform to open to anyone who wants to take it

Greater than 150,000 students, more than 25,000 complete the course

Issues a letter to certify accomplishment

Take Off!Udacity

Professor Thrun’s FP company

CourseraStanford graduates create FP company, MOOC platform Bandwagon phenomenon, jump start distance ed

edXMIT/Harvard, NFP and not “MOOC” per seeUC Berkeley, Wellesley, but not Amherst!CornellX, May 2013

Early ReportsLots of hype, uncertainty, experimentation

Not a simple approach to teaching, takes lots of preparation and lead time

Basic technical requirements: platform, robust network, video, LMS, etc.

OpportunitiesBranding and marketing for institution as well as

professors

Experiment with distance or blended as well as life-long learning

In the heartland of liberal arts, four year degree education

Highlight notable areas of research or great professors, strengths of the institution as well as enhance the outreach, public service missions

Either get in the game or stay in the game as higher education becomes more global

ChallengesAssessment and grading

Peer grading and lots of teaching assistants

Academic IntegrityPhysical test centers“Signature Track” with keystroke authentication

Credit Hour, Credentials, Badges, Accreditation

Range of opinion about ultimate affects on higher education Harvard Faculty Letter of ProtestUC San Jose faculty protest

How do MOOCs fit into global higher education landscape?

MOOCs reinforce the trends of an international, information economy

Component of the challenge of NFP HE, insofar as it challenges price, credit hour and traditional credentialsThomas Friedman: Best of education garnered

via mobile devices to eager learners around the worldBut without attention to the challenge of how

to fund, accredit and credential

Global UniversityCollaborative Courses, classrooms, instructors,

communication with researchers around the world

Deploy technology to teach differently:Flipped classroomsProfessor as a guide, not sageUse MOOCs as “homework” or foundational

material, prerequisites for advanced learning

The Liberal Arts PerspectiveLet’s really transform education!

Make learning relevant, meaningful and interactiveBroaden students’ perspectives on the world in which they live

and will have to operateCombine with foreign travel, appreciation and understanding

of global culturesActive learning and undergraduate researchCombine learning with service through problem-solvingTreat education as holistic, and in turn, experience education

as treating students, educators – including staff – as whole persons!

Digital and Information Competency

Berkeley-Cornell Model

Goal: Incorporate undergraduate research into course work and objectives Active learning Group process and presentation Digital and information literacy

Means: “Clusters” that function as a team Faculty Teaching Assistants Librarians Information Technology Professionals

CIS 515: “Culture, Law and Politics of the

Internet”Worked with IT staff:

Create an alternative to institutional LMS to be open on the Internet for students to write reviews of books, blog, interact with authors and other students from other institutions (Berkman Center at Harvard)

Videotape Moot Court CompetitionConsult and support students in presentation

deliveryPowerPoint 3D conceptualization Interclass messaging

CIS 515: “Culture, Law and Politics of the

Internet”Worked with Academic (Law) Librarian:

Offered basic legal research instructionCreated Moot Court competition using Internet

legal issues as the topicsJurisdictionIntellectual property

Copyright Trademark

Administrative Commercial and Communications Law FTC/FCC Net Neutrality

Simulated Product Design Demo

Presentation integrating the work of Internet legal scholar Lessig’s “four factors” (law, technology, social norms, market) analysis. Legal research expanded with basic digital literacy

skills to do advance search and use of reference librarians generally per specialized data bases and search techniques based on research principles, i.e. evaluation of resources and critical thinking skills

Flipped Classroom, real-time messaging, videotaped presentation for post-mortem analysis

Evaluation included cluster input about reference research, analysis, presentation mode and lessons learned Peer grading Group/individual analysis

Moot CourtUsed the Official Moot Court room in Cornell Law

School

Student took the exercise very seriously:Dressed the partLearned the basic procedural protocol for

addressing the court (appellate = timed presentations, judges interrupt, three light system to manage time, proper address to judges, etc.)

Performed the necessary research, wrote the briefs and delivered oral argument

Used all the resources: IT, librarians, TA.

Last Day of Class

“Put the course site behind authentication! I had a job interview, and the interviewer asked me about my moot court competition case!”

How Cool Would It Be …Collaborative work with other professors, in

other institutions, internationally?

Whether teaching “basic” undergraduate material, for example, foreign language, or essential humanities, i.e. how American history is taught in the U.S. with a professor, class and students in Beijing?

Introducing multi-dimensional perspective: history, literature, art, culture, music, economic, social, political and ideological perspectives?

From Discipline Approach to Problem-Solving

How to work toward environmental sustainability on a comprehensive scale, including prevention of global warming and of the extinction of many species

How to create international jurisdiction and substantive law in order to settle legal disputes

How to shape a developmental model of a global economy that distributes resources—including education—equitably and fairly around the world

Examples:How to inculcate an understanding of local or

national culture, history, and traditions sufficiently to encourage tolerance of each others religions, manners, and mores?

How to deploy all layers (physical, logical, and applications) of the Internet while also developing international governing bodies and policy principles for information and communications technologies, including search engines and the repositories of information and knowledge?

How to optimize agricultural research on a global scale in order to eliminate starvation and hunger?

Examples:How to research, manage, and treat disease—and thus

provide reasonable health care, including pharmaceuticals—around the world?

How to understand the human condition through the study of cross-cultural and trans historical art, literature, languages, and humanities?

How to integrate archeology, history, literature, language, geography, sociology and science?

Examples:How to live the ethics of scientific research, whether

it be the exploration of outer space (and its expenses, given other needs), particle and nuclear physics (and the creation of such devastatingly destructive technologies), Internet and data networking technologies (the use of highly flawed proprietary operating systems without consequence to the companies making profit, notwithstanding the consequences that result to users from those flaws), or genomics and the creation of species for which we do not yet know all of the intended, or unintended, consequences?

Will this approach change undergraduate education?

I hope so!

Do These Changes Signal the End of Liberal Arts?

No!

These changes should reinvigorate and enrich the meaning of liberal arts

education, making it consistent with the demands of international markets and

societies, give pedagogical meaning to how technology has the potential to transform education, make education relevant and

inculcate global citizenship.