A Study on the Pedagogical Components of Massive Online Courses

Abstract

RESUMENA finales de la primera década del siglo XXI, el rápido aumento de cursos MOOC dibuja un nuevo panorama educativo planteando nuevos retos a la enseñanza y al aprendizaje debido, fundamentalmente, a sus características de masividad, ubicuidad y gratuidad. En estos cursos se da una confluencia de mediaciones tecnológicas y pedagógicas aún por explorar en todas sus dimensiones. Este trabajo, utilizando un instrumento de indicadores educativos e interactivos en un MOOC (INdiMOOC-EdI) de elaboración propia, se centra en averiguar qué componentes pedagógicos posee la actual oferta de MOOC en lengua hispana, para poder dirimir aquellos elementos dependientes de las plataformas que los soportan. Para ello se realiza una investigación mixta de tipo exploratoria y secuencial que analiza un total de 117 cursos ubicados en 10 plataformas diferentes, utilizando el instrumento creado y validado a tal efecto. Con la información obtenida se lleva a cabo un análisis de contenido en su vertiente cualitativa, mientras que con la cuantitativa se efectúan análisis estadísticos complementados con algoritmos propios de la minería de datos. Los resultados muestran que las diferentes plataformas condicionan los diseños pedagógicos del MOOC en cinco aspectos fundamentales: el aprendizaje, las actividades y tareas, los medios y recursos, la interactividad y la evaluación. Se concluye con una serie de indicadores de tipo descriptivo, formativo e interactivo que pueden orientar la pedagogía de futuros Cursos Online Masivos Abiertos. ABSTRACTAt the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the rapid growth in the MOOC offering brought about a new educational landscape, posing new challenges to teaching and learning, mainly due to massive participation, ubiquity and free enrollment. These courses embody a confluence of technological and pedagogical mediations yet to be fully explored. This study, applying an instrument of educational and interactive indicators on a MOOC (INdiMOOC-EdI) designed by the authors, seeks to ascertain the pedagogical components of MOOCs delivered in the Spanish language in order to establish which course features are platform dependent. An exploratory sequential mixed methods study was carried out on a total of 117 courses within 10 different platforms via an instrument developed and validated ad hoc. The data obtained is subjected to a content analysis for a qualitative perspective; while a quantitative perspective is obtained through a statistical analysis complemented with classification algorithms typical in data mining. The results suggest that the different platform providers condition the pedagogical design of the MOOC in five key areas: learning, activities and tasks, means and resources, interactivity and assessment. It concludes with a series of descriptive, educational and interactive indicators that can be a pedagogical benchmark for future MOOCs. PALABRAS CLAVE | KEYWORDSCursos en línea, Cursos Online Masivos Abiertos, COMA, recursos educativos abiertos, diseño instructivo, minería de datos, an...

Does Formal Credit Work for MOOC-Like Learning Environments?

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