OCWC Global Conference 2013: The Mechanical Mooc - A Gentle Introduction to Python: It's Alive!

It’s Alive!

Steve Carson – scarson@mit.edu8 May 2013

A simple theory: We don’t need another platform.

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The MOOC Maker

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The MOOC Maker

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The MOOC MakerMOOC-E

No teacher

No platform

No(t much) money

Structured via e-mail list

Eight week course (w 1 break week)

No SME support—logistics only

Communication archived on WordPress

Three overlapping “sequences”

HTTLCS open text book

Codecademy exercises

MIT OCW videos and assignments

OpenStudy for questions

Provides a flexible framework for connecting projects

Leverages existing resources & investments

Provides learners with persistent access to resources

+’s

Lives at mercy of project production schedules

Student data is scattered

Certification wasn’t an option (at least not yet)

-’s

Seq 2: ~2,600 learners

Seq 1: ~ 5,700 learners

Seq 3: ~1,000 learners

E-Mails opened

Sequence 1 Survey

N = 83

Assuming a 5% response rate, 1660 “engaged learners” in week eight.

25% were finished, so around 415 complete, or ~7% of total enrollment.

But do we care…?

Sequence 1 Survey

Sequence 1 Survey

Sequence 1 Survey

Thoughts

Platforms are not necessary.

Learners do just fine moving across resources.

Maybe communities ought to be bigger than courses.

Thoughts

Openness remains important.

Learners now define success.

Maybe the problem with MOOCs will be they are too cheap to produce, not too expensive.

Finally

New sequence starts in June!

Thanks

http://mechanicalmooc.orghttp://mechanicalmooc.wordpress.com