Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2014

Many Shades of MOOC's the learners were “pay to play.” Entrance into the MOOC was free of charge. Learners who wished to receive academic credit in UTACONs RN-to-BSN program enrolled to take a final summative examination and paid the online proctoring service directly for that service (<$30 with the fee varying dependent upon the individual’s preference for when the examination was scheduled). The only additional charge for receiving credit was that associated with the established process for receiving “credit by exam” ($25). Learners, who wished to receive CEU for the course, paid the CE provider $25 for obtaining a certificate for the 45 hours of continuing education credit. An Operations Team was responsible for identifying the flow of information to allow individuals to sign up for the MOOC, participate, and reach their desired end point (academic credit, continuing education credit, certificate of completion) in a seamless way. Individuals on this team include representatives from the university’s Departments of Distance Education and Admissions along with the College of Nursing and Academic Partnerships. A Course Development team was responsible for the content and the presentation of the course. After review, a decision was made to use Canvas Open Network as the Learning Management System. Identification of course objectives, learning outcomes, curricula flow, and included content and evaluation methods were the responsibility of the course faculty. Media experts and instructional designers from Academic Partnerships assisted in course construction on the Canvas Open Network. Working collaboratively, open access learning artifacts appropriate to the course objectives were identified so as to avoid any costs associated with books or other supplementary material. Outcomes and Next Steps In August 2013, the course went live with a “soft launch” – limited enrollment – to pilot test the course structure and processes. On the start date, there were approximately 300 learners enrolled. In a start of the course survey, the following information was obtained: Country of origin • 70% were from the United States • 9% were from Western Europe • 7% were from Africa • 4% were from South America • 2% were from Central/East Asia • English was the primary language for 75% of the participants Professional discipline (see Figure 1) • 57% of respondents were nurses. • 43% of these respondents were interested in course credit • 14% were interested in CEUs Figure 1. Breakdown of respondents by profession. �� Learner experience �� In later surveys, additional data were collected about learners’ experience. The course load was in line with learner expectations. Learners expected between 2 61

Internet Learning Volume 3, Number 1, Spring 2014 | Page 62