Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2014 | Page 57

Internet Learning
evidence to suggest that this model of massive
education could be effective for student
learning, when extrapolated from the
perspective of a student’s participation in
a knowledge community. “Participation in
these knowledge communities is both the
process and the goal of learning in higher
education” (Lattuca & Stark, 2009, loc
3785 of 8572). The authors go on to write
that “Learning is thus a vehicle of socialization…
and at the same time the result
(or goal) of socialization” (Lattuca & Stark,
2009, loc 3785 of 8572). cMOOCs are
uniquely set up for social learning. The development
of a learning community “benefits
both students and faculty, as it can
lead toward better retention of students.
In turn, course throughput rates increase
(Santovec, 2004). There are different views
on what route to follow to enable such a
community to establish itself ” (Nagel &
Kotze, 2010, p. 46).
What implications does this model
of MOOC have for the respective roles of
teacher and learner? Blackmore addresses
this challenge from a perspective wider
than the debate about MOOCs, writing
that “Increasingly, students are seen as the
consumers of an educational service. Inadequate
and unhelpful though the metaphor
might be, it is a powerful one, challenging
a more traditional relationship between
teacher and student. The development of a
network of colleagues with a shared view of
the purposes of a change can be a powerful
way of enabling a change” (Blackmore,
2012, p. 134). The demands of facilitating
such learning requires facilitators “to adopt
a multifaceted role so as to guide or influence
the learners and communities to get
involved and embrace social media practices”
(Kop, Fournier, & Sui, 2011, p. 89).
MOOCs as a model seem to be uniquely
designed to challenge the traditional roles
of teacher and student, instead framing the
concepts within the larger concept of learner-directed
education, both inside and outside
of institutions of higher education.
Research into early MOOCs suggests
that participation in MOOCs is bifurcated
further, into categories of participants
and consumers. A small percentage
of students who enroll in MOOCs actually
fully participate. A separate group of students
tend to participate via a “consuming”
style, wherein they review resources
and the work of fellow students, but are
not active participants in the course (Kop,
Fournier, & Sui, 2011).
cMOOCs have some identified
challenges that aren’t necessarily in play in
xMOOCs. One way it is described is that
the “lack of a coherent and centralized
structure and a lack of summary around
learning in the MOOCs also presented
challenges for some participants, in particular
the novice learners” (Kop, Fournier, &
Sui, 2011, p. 86). There are also concerns
about the level of support provided by the
instructors as an ongoing challenge of the
model. The degree to which the design of
the course allows for peer-to-peer feedback
to foster a higher level of cognitive
presence can “contribute value beyond the
knowledge base of the lecturer, irrespective
of the large class size” (Nagel & Kotze,
2010, p. 50).
xMOOCs are also changing the educational
landscape. Though far more similar
to traditional online courses, xMOOCs
attempt to scale learning with extremely
large class sizes that are highly structured,
but in which only minimal customized
feedback is provided. Often more detailed
feedback is provided on a peer-evaluation
basis. Because of the sheer number of students
in a given course, new roles have
emerged for teacher and learner, wherein
the teacher becomes a facilitator of the
learning process.
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