Video Creation as a Form of Active Learning

 Video Creation as a Form of Active Learning

In one of the topics in our CUTL Technology course we look at the use of video and audio in instruction.  Having students create their own videos as a form of assessment or "meaning making" is highlighted as the Number 1 pedagogical use of video. Several of the course participants comment favourably on the idea, though some ponder over logistical issues that might get in the way.   A few graduates of the course have successfully implemented the use of student videos, like Dr. Adrian Cashman of CERMES and Dr. Grace Fayombo of the School of Education who both made presentations on student-created videos as a learning tool at our inaugural Teaching With Technology Symposium last year 

A lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Technology at St. Augustine has taken the idea and is "running with it" in a big way. Jason Matthew teaches biochemistry and he is challenging his students in BIOL 2365 to "imagine, create and innovate" with video. The project, Biochemians Got Talent, required students to create 15-minute videos (a bit long, perhaps?) on any topic in the BIOL 2365 course syllabus. The project produced 30 videos which Mr. Matthew has made available on YouTube. He is interested in having biology and biochemistry students at UWI view and comment on the videos (and perhaps add to them as well!). So those of you who teach biology/biochemistry, please share with your students. It's an excellent way for students to "learn form each other".  Here is the link to the channel where you can view the videos LINK. Take a look and drop me a comment with your thoughts on the idea.   

(Just in case the link doesn't work, you can also go on the YouTube website (www.youtube.com) and type in BiochemJM in the search bar.

The MOOCS Are Coming, Are We Ready?

W hen over 160,000 people signed up for a course in artificial intelligence offered by two academics at Stanford, in the Fall of 2011, this sealed the eruption of MOOCS as “the hottest topic of discussion in higher education in the U.S”.  Things in the MOOC realm have been moving “fast and furious” ever since.

I have the wonderful pleasure of being the facilitator for the course Advancing Teaching and Learning with Technology in the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) programme at the UWI Cave Hill Campus.  This course provides for stimulating interactions with faculty as we engage in online discussions of various issues impacting on teaching and learning in higher education today. 

One of the issues discussed with the current cohort is the rapidly developing phenomenon of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) that is sweeping across the Higher Ed landscape, primarily in North America.  Interestingly, no one on the course had heard the term before, but all were immediately intrigued by it.

A MOOC is a type of online course aimed at large-scale participation and open access via the Internet. The term  is only about five years old, and really only came to prominence within the last year, as the involvement of some of the USA’s leading universities, including Harvard, MIT, Stanford and Berkeley, triggered a media frenzy about the potential of MOOCs to revolutionize higher education on a global scale. 

MOOCs  sprung out of the open educational resources  (OER) movement with its lofty goals of  alleviating the digital divide “between the global North and the global South”, and contributing to the development of less advanced economies.  Much of the attention behind MOOCs  currently focuses on making e-learning more scalable and sustainable. While there is no commonly accepted definition of a MOOC, two key features are:

• Open access. MOOC participants do not need to be a registered student in a school to "take" a MOOC, and are not required to pay a fee.
• Scalability. Many traditional courses depend upon a small ratio of students to teacher, but the "massive" in MOOC suggests that the course is designed to support an indefinite number of participants. (Wikipedia)

When over 160,000 people signed up for a course in artificial intelligence offered by two academics at Stanford, in the Fall of 2011, this sealed the eruption of MOOCS as “the hottest topic of discussion in higher education in the U.S”.  Things in the MOOC realm have been moving “fast and furious” ever since - Colleges are entering into deals to offer credits for MOOCs  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/13/moocs-college-credit/1699671/.  The American Council on Education, ‘a non-profit organization that represents most of the nation’s college and university presidents', is working on a process by which MOOCs can be assessed for academic rigour leading to approval for academic credit, although the decision as to whether to accept approved courses for credit transfer will remain up to the individual institutions.  MOOCs are rapidly gaining popularity in rural communities and developing countries where access to traditional schools is limited.

So the big questions emerging are these, "Will MOOCs destroy academia?" http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2012/11/156587-will-moocs-destroy-academia/fulltext; or will history prove them to be the cataclysmic “game-changer” in higher education in the 21^st century; the "big experiment” that if successful, “will give people all around the world access to high-quality, online classes without having to pay a dime”, allowing people to educate themselves based on what they want to learn…. allowing stay-at-home parents to take real classes in their spare time to stay current, business people to improve their resumes, and high school students to "get a head start on college when they’re bored?" http://distancelearn.about.com/od/isitforyou/a/How-Moocs-Are-Changing-The-Way-People-Learn.htm.

More importantly, what threats and opportunties might this avalanche bring for institutions like UWI? 

I welcome your thoughts…