Quality - challenges for Post-traditional higher education?! Do MOOCs change the idea of the university?

Quality: Challenges for Post Traditional Higher Education?

Do MOOCs change the idea of the university?!

Ulf-Daniel Ehlers

Presentation in short

What is it we are in currently?

• Traidional• Modern/ Industrial (Post traditional) (Quality!)• Individualized / Rip&Mix / Patchwork

(Quality?)

What are the challenges of the emerging model?

Modern (Massification ) HE Model

Post modern HE Model

Defined degrees Short and patchwork study cycles

Study in a degree framework Study according needs and interest

Curriculum is oriented to professions No clear curriculum, but certifiation needs

Expert led/ Prof. led knowledge transfer Students are peers

Exam driven/ Certification bound Learning experience in the foreground

Certifiation of knowledge/ achievements Assessment of competences

Institution bound De-institutionalised

Institution‘s reputation determines value Experience + practice value gain importance

Clear timebound structure of degrees Flexibilisation

Disciplins are structure giving Inter-disciplinary/ trans-disciplinary

Disciplin oriented: canon of methods and knowledge Problem oriented

Academic status, traditions, clothing individualised

Differentiation against „non-higher education“ Continuum through ed.-sectors + levels

Why are MOOCs & Open Eductaion so popular?
















MOOC characteristics

What are the important imperatives for QA?

• Quality and Innovation are one family• Technology is a game changer• Openess leads to disaggregation

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http://www.oer-europe.net/



Presentation long version

Welcome!!

Prof. Dr. Ulf-Daniel Ehlers Vicepresident Quality and Academic Affairs, Baden-Wurttemberg Cooperative State University

President European Foundation for Quality in E-Learning, Brussels (www.efquel.org)

Part 1: MOOCs are a sympton.The cause is a changing idea of the university

• Old• New • Different• Traditional• Industrial Model & Massification• Modern• Post traditional• Post modern

Terms which struck me and which are important to clarify!

Bologna University, Italy (1088)

http://isdsbologna2013.org/blog/location/bologna/#!prettyPhoto-205/0/

University of Bochum, Germany (1965)

http://www.rd.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/imperia/md/images/rd/plasma/news/luftbild_rub_s__dwest.jpg

Workers Housing, Plymouth, UK

http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/19141958

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao

Guggenheim, Bilbaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Guggenheim-bilbao-jan05.jpg

STATA Center, MIT (2004)

http://web.mit.edu/jsaa/www/photos/stata.jpg

Which graduates?

Ability to act successfull across disciplins, contexts and systems

Dep

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Expe

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Leadership Career PathwayTop

Managers

Experts SeniorManagers

ManagersSeniorSpecialists

Specialists

Operational, Back Office

Today

© Matthias Landmesser, 2013

Which Qualification? Today‘s Scenario

Future

TopManagers

Senior Managers

Managers

Specialists

Operational, BackOffice

Experts

Senior Specialists

Drivers: Globalisation Changed Value Chain Demographic Change Growing Complexity

And therefore …1. More higher

qualifications2. New academic job

profiles3. Cross-Competencies

gain importance

© Matthias Landmesser, 2013

Which Qualification? Future Scenario

Are MOOCs really the question?

Or is it a question of HE systems change?

Evolving questions:• What is post traditional higher eductaion?• Is it not rather post industrial / post modern higher education? • Do we have to look at the HEI or the traditional learner?• How can we prepare for the new learner?

Precisely: • How can HEI cater for the quality needs of the

21st century student? Are MOOCs doing that?

First conclusion:Where does that leave us?

• The traditional model: Exclusively for few chosen.

• The modern (massification) model: Standard model for masses.

• The post-modern model: Individualised and diversified HE (Rip and Mix Approach/ Patchwork)

Part 2: The changing nature of HE

The open questions...:1. What are the characteristics of ‚the modern HE

model?‘2. What are the needs of the 21st centruy

student?3. How do MOOCs fit in there?

And then - more general: What does that mean for Quality of Open Education?



Defined degrees

Study in a degree framework

Curriculum is oriented to professions

Expert led/ Prof. led knowledge transfer

Exam driven/ Certification bound

Certifiation of knowledge/ achievements

Institution bound

Institution‘s reputation determines value

Clear timebound structure of degrees

Disciplins are structure giving

Disciplin oriented: canon of methods and knowledge

Academic status, traditions, clothing

Differentiation against „non-higher education“

What are the characteristics of ‚the traditional HE model?‘
















What are the needs of the 21st centruy student?

In essence

Post-Modern HE: Disaggregation of the modelDiversification of the model

(Do MOOCs fit here? By the way – what is the definition of MOOC?

mooc.efquel.org)
















MOOC characteristics

Second conclusion:MOOCs meet many requirements of a contemporary

HE model – but personal tutoring, certification or curriculum pathways are not yet solved.

Part 3: Some grand quality challenges ahead for providers of post modern HE

1. The quest of „individualised quality“ CONCEDE

2. The quest of openess OPAL3. The quest of recognition OERTest + VMPass4. An exploration into MOOC quality

www.efquel.org/projects

http://www.efquel.org/projects

www.oer-quality.org

http://www.oer-quality.org/

32




Part 4: The MOOC Quality Project

12 weeks, 12 experts, 12 posts, 12.000 Readers, >150 comments m

ooc.e

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1. Massive Target Audience? • Change from „no target audience“-thinking to

having one in mind, even if it is wide. Take into acount new participation profiles.

MOOC

Lurkers

Passive participants

Active participants

Drop-ins

HILL, P. (2013) “The Four Student Archetypes Emerging in MOOCs” [Online] e-Literate blog post 02/03/13 [accessed 19/04/13]. Available:

http://mfeldstein.com/the-four-student-archetypes-emerging-in-moocs/

http://mfeldstein.com/the-four-student-archetypes-emerging-in-moocs/

2. Mixing Groups?

• Be aware that inviting the world means to bring in the worlds opinion (existing groups might be disturbed)

• Mixing campus and MOOC Students might be challenging: drive in/by learners vs. highly motivated learners who want a masters degree.

http://www.teleskop-service.de/Veranstaltungen/ITT2007/Blick_in_die_Berge.jpg

3. Learning Across Contexts

• Be aware that the quality paradigm “fitness for purpose” is not working for MOOCs because MOOCs mean learning across contexts and purposes.

• Quality measures become individualised, quality methods like self- & peer-assessment and –reflection are suitable.

http://www.teleskop-service.de/Veranstaltungen/ITT2007/Blick_in_die_Berge.jpg

4. Support Self-Organization

• Be open about your requirements of self-organisation, provide scaffolding for those who lack that self-organisation.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Fugle%2C_%C3%B8rns%C3%B8_073.jpg

5. Declare What‘s in it!

1. the degree of openness, 2. the scale of participation

(massification), 3. the amount of use of multimedia, 4. the amount of communication, 5. the extent to which collaboration is

included, 6. the type of learner pathway (from

learner centred to teacher-centred and highly structured),

1. the level of quality assurance, 2. the extent to which reflection

is encouraged, 3. the level of assessment, 4. how informal or formal it is, 5. autonomy, 6. and diversity.

Be precise about the content and purpose of the MOOC (self-declaration) and keep promises! (Use a MOOC description model)

(Conole 2013)

6. Peer-to-Peer Pedagogy

• Use peer-to-peer pedagogy: peer-learning, peer-review, peer-assessment, collaborative learning, multiple learning pathways and exploratory learning

• Understand that teaching is not a prerequsite of learning.

http://www.naset.org/uploads/pics/choice.gif

7. MOOCs Support Choice Based Learning

• Get away from – the notion that „ending a MOOC early“ means

dropping out – looking at MOOCs like (structured, paced, timebound)

courses• Be aware that MOOC learning is an opt-in/out

learning model• MOOCs follow voluntary sequencing and are

based on choices. The choices they offer make their attractiveness.

http://www.naset.org/uploads/pics/choice.gif

Prof. Dr. phil. Habil. Ulf-Daniel [email protected]

WWW.EFQUEL.ORGEFQUEL office in Brussels

Rue des deux Eglises 35B – 1000 BRUSSELS

BELGIUMTel : + 32 2 639 30 32Fax : + 32 2 644 35 83

Email : [email protected]