Got MOOC? Labor Costs for the Development and Delivery of an Open Online Course

Transcription

1 Got MOOC? Labor Costs for the Development and Delivery of an Open Online Course Jeffrey Stanton Syracuse University and Suzan Harkness University of the District of Columbia

2 Jeff Stanton Currently Senior Associate Dean at the School of Information Studies - The Syracuse University Other roles: A.C.E. Fellow, SUNY Cortland; Associate VP of Research (SU); Associate Dean for Research; Director of Doctoral Studies; Proud grad of EDUCAUSE/CLIR Leading Change Institute (formerly Frye Institute) Research and publications in technology-driven organizational change; data science education; research methods; psychometrics Books: Introduction to Data Science (2013); Information Nation (2010), The Visible Employee (2006)

3 Suzan Harkness Currently Special Assistant to the President at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) Other roles: A.C.E. Fellow, Mount St. Mary s University; Director, Center for Academic Technology (UDC); Assistant Dean Learning Resources (UDC); Managing Director of Academic Affairs (TWC); Associate Professor Political Science (UDC) Research and publications in the area of online learning initiatives, faculty professional development, instructional tools and technology, and institutional effectiveness.

4 Where s Suzan? Suzan was invited to participate in the Leadership for Diversity Summer Institute run by the National Center for Institutional Diversity, starting today in Ann Arbor Suzan was my coauthor on our recent journal publication, Got MOOC: Labor Costs for the Development and Delivery of an Open Online Course (Information Resources Management Journal, 2014) Suzan helped me prepare this talk Logo Credit: Little, Brown, and Co.

5 Overview 50 Minutes of MOOC MOOCs: Logistics and Cost Drivers MOOCs ( Massive Open Online Courses ) overview, history and current status Case Study: Syracuse University MOOC Overview and Goals Design and Development Delivery and Outcomes Cost Analysis Interpretation and Futures

6 MOOCs A Brief History Photo credits: Santa Clara University Council on Foreign Relations Duke University Times Higher Education

7 What s Old Is New Again! 1966 Logo Credits: Wikimedia Foundation 1971

8 Off The Beaten Path Screen shot: NovoEd.com

9 MOOC Demographics Image Credits: Coursera.com

10 Latest MOOC Developments

11 Poll Hype Cycle Thinking about the five phases in Gartner s Hype Cycle of technology adoption, where do you see U.S. higher education and MOOCs today? Technology trigger (early proof of concept) Peak of inflated expectations Trough of disillusionment (interest wanes) Slope of enlightenment (benefits crystallize) Plateau of productivity (mainstream adoption)

12 Figure credit: Wikimedia.org

13 Q&A Stop

14 Overview 50 Minutes of MOOC MOOCs: Logistics and Cost Drivers MOOCs ( Massive Open Online Courses ) overview, history and current status Case Study: Syracuse University MOOC Overview and Goals Design and Development Delivery and Outcomes Cost Analysis Interpretation and Futures

15 Published Report of the Case Study Stanton, J. M., & Harkness, S. S. (2014). Got MOOC?: Labor Costs for the Development and Delivery of an Open Online Course. Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ), 27(2), doi: /irmj

16 Case Study: The Syracuse University Plan/Prep (3 mo.) Promoting (1 wk.) Running (1 mo.) Follow-Up (5 mo.) Course Title: A Brief Introduction to Data Science With R

17 Planning and Preparation

18 The MOOC Platform Screenshot: COURSEsites.com

19 Promoting the Course/Enrollment

20 Running the Course

21 Discussion Board Activity Week 1 Sample Prompt: Select a system of your own choice and determine the data elements involved in the system. Identify the flow of data for that system. How are the data transformed in your system? Week 3 Sample Prompt: Analyze the following graphical distributions. Compare I, II, III and IV distributions and explain the nature of distributions. With proper theoretical or quantitative reasoning, explain whether these distributions are similar in nature or different?

22 Role Descriptions and Time Invested Role Description Person-Hour Estimate Primary Instructor Created instructional materials for the MOOC; served 85 hours as a leader on the MOOC s discussion boards. Secondary Instructor Supported efforts of the primary; served as a leader on 75 hours the discussion boards. Instructional Designer Established the layout and flow; designed the menu 110 hours system, progressive release, discussion board layout, and system settings for student groups. Platform Support for Assisted the instructional designer 70 hours Students Technical Support for Assisted in development of documentation for lab 140 hours Students assignments; monitored discussion boards Assessment Designer Developed test bank for student learning assessments 90 hours Reference Librarian Created lists of reading and instructional materials 45 hours Total Total person-hours across all roles described above 615 hours

23 Translating Time into Costs $28, Instruction was 77% of this overall cost. Design was 55% of the instructional cost.

24 Poll Reactions to Time and Cost Thinking about the description of Syracuse University s experiences, to what extent was the time and cost invested worthwhile? The project was too expensive, relative to the value it provided to the university. The project time/cost was just about right, relative to the value it provided. The project was quite inexpensive relative to the value it provided.

25 Q&A Stop Any questions?

26 Follow-Up Activities: Certificates and Scholarships 856 enrolled 445 active 91 completed 8 applied 6 matriculated

27 Overview 50 Minutes of MOOC MOOCs: Logistics and Cost Drivers MOOCs ( Massive Open Online Courses ) overview, history and current status Case Study: Syracuse University MOOC Overview and Goals Design and Development Delivery and Outcomes Cost Analysis Interpretation and Futures

28 Key Lessons The MOOC included five justifications related to the priorities of the ischool: To assess student readiness for a new, technically-focused graduate curriculum To serve as a promotional vehicle for certificate and degree programs To boost the collective expertise of ischool faculty and staff in logistics and delivery of MOOCs (in anticipation of additional future offerings) To assess, in depth, the usability of the free MOOC platform To build an team of experts who could subsequently serve as university resource for MOOC support and advice

29 Coda: Latest Figures from Self-Paced MOOC Total # of people who have filled out the informational form: 3713 Total # of people enrolled in course: 2066 Informational s sent to new registrants this month: 137 New enrollments since previous month: 101 Total Certificates of Completion sent: 107 Certificates of Completion sent since previous month: 13

30 Next Steps: Consulting The Experts Research Interview Opportunities Suzan and I are preparing a book proposal for submission later this summer and we are seeking interviewees with knowledge and interest in the area of educational technology. Please Suzan if you have an interest in participating (sharkness@udc.edu) Mobility? How Ed Tech Impacts College Access, Equity & Outcomes Suzan Harkness and Jeff Stanton

31 Thank you! Questions - Contact Information Jeffrey Stanton - jmstanto@syr.edu, Suzan Harkness sharkness@udc.edu,