CONNECTIVITY OF LEARNING IN MOOCs: FACILITATORS’ EXPERIENCES IN TEAM TEACHING

Abstract

The role of facilitators in distance learning environments is of substantial importance in supporting the learning process. This article specifically discusses the role of the facilitator in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC), which are characterized by their stimulation of learning connections. The study analyzes the experiences of 135 facilitators in hybrid courses (cMOOC + xMOOC) where the following are explored: (1) the strategies used by the facilitators to encourage learning connections, (2) the challenges they faced in their activities, and (3) the basic skills required. A mixed method was used with a convergent design, through the application of a questionnaire qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously. It was found that the collaborative construction of knowledge is the most widely used strategy to promote learning connections in MOOCs and that its design is the biggest challenge that facilitators faced while carrying out their activities.

Portraying the Performance of Indonesian’s Massive Open Online Course Facilitators

“…The facilitators read manuals, watched tutorial videos, and experimented (Doo et al, 2020). Successful facilitators usually took the initiative to collaborate with other facilitators to solve technical problems (Mercado-Varela et al, 2017). These facilitators independently learned about new issues and were willing to take the initiative to facilitate a MOOC much better than others.…”

“…Second, besides teaching, facilitators carried the troubling burden of providing essential technical support (Mercado-Varela et al, 2017). Navigating Canvas as a MOOC platform was indeed new for most facilitators.…”

“…These apps are generally more familiar to students and easier to use but are less sophisticated. These apps enable interactions to occur outside the online learning platform and maintain high levels of engagement (Hui et al, 2019; Mercado-Varela et al, 2017; Park & Kim, 2020). The use of these online applications can promote social presence in online learning because it forms the social knowledge constructs, peer review, and students’ learning (Skrypnyk et al, 2015).…”

Universitarios frente al COVID-19, sus competencias en TIC

“…En la última década del siglo pasado, la educación ha transitado de un modelo formativo, centrado en objetivos, a otro centrado en competencias y capacidades (Cabero & Llorente, 2015, p. 187), cuyo eje principal es el proceso de formación escolarizado. El aprendizaje involucrado en ello incluye la estructuración de los datos utilizados en diferentes contextos y la búsqueda de conexiones y nuevos significados (León et al, 2014), así como mezclar, restructurar y conectar la información en un grupo de aprendizaje (Cabero & Llorente, 2015, p. 191;Mercado et al, 2017). Y, para continuar aprendiendo, las personas requieren de competencias, esto es, de un saber combinado que conjuga el ser, el hacer y el saber estar en determinadas situaciones, así como la aplicación creativa, flexible y responsable de conocimientos, habilidades y actitudes (Martínez-Palmera et al, 2018), en un ejercicio que les permita reflexionar sobre sí mismos, administrar el tiempo y la información de manera efectiva, colaborar constructivamente con otros y mantener la resiliencia y el control sobre su aprendizaje y sus carreras (European Commission, 2019, p. 11).…”

Fostering Motivation in ESL Collaborative Online Writing Through Google Docs

“…Many previous research were conducted where Connectivism is the theoretical framework to support learners' self-directed and collaborative learning. Several studies (Mercado-Varela et al, 2017;Thota, 2015;Titova, 2017) explored ways to engage students in an authentic online collaborative community by incorporating a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) into a language learning course. The findings revealed that learners were pleased with this intervention because they wanted to share their MOOC experiences with students worldwide, enabling them to be more autonomous whilst achieving their goals online.…”