Figure 1
A concept map illustrating the conceptualization of the CPD MOOCs
Table 1
Design strategies of the CPD MOOCs in line with guiding principles for e3-teaching
| Guiding principles for e3-teaching (Source: Naidu, 2010) | Design strategies of the CPD MOOCs |
|---|---|
| 1. Teachers and learners are clear about the learning outcomes (see Naidu, 2007). | Specific learning outcomes for each CPD MOOC formulated, in line with the key competency- ‘Ability to integrate OER and adopt OEP in professional practice’. |
| 2. Learning is situated within a meaningful context and within the culture and the community in which learners live and work (Merrill, 2002). | Learning scenarios created for each CPD MOOC (in the form of short videos), reflecting real life situations of practitioners. |
| 3. Learners are engaged in pursuing and solving meaningful and real-world challenges and problems, and where they have opportunities to work on a variety of problems and tasks of increasing complexity with timely and useful feedback (Barrows & Tamblyn, 1980; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Merrill, 2002). | Learning activities created as challenges within the scenarios, similar to real life challenges. A variety of activities with increased complexity embedded across the four CPD MOOCs. OER integrated as supportive learning resources. Peer feedback and tutor feedback mechanisms built in. |
| 4. The learning activities in these learning situations are clearly articulated and explicitly linked to knowledge and skills already mastered (see Merrill, 2002; Naidu, 2007). | Three types of learning/assessment tasks - Individual activity (a creation); Collaborative activity (discussion forum); Reflective activity (self-reflections), linked with the learning scenario, and existing knowledge/skills of learners. |
| 5. Learners, while working on learning situations, are required to think for themselves by reflecting in and upon their actions and regulating their own performance (Naidu & Oliver, 1999). | Learning/assessment tasks designed to encourage reflecting on their actions. Requirement to maintain a reflective journal, to promote reflective practice. |
| 6. The development of understanding is promoted as a social process with learners acting upon authentic situations in groups and with dialogue, discussion and debate (Barrows & Tamblyn, 1980; Vygotsky, 1978). | Peer-facilitated discussion forum to support co-construction of knowledge and community building. Links to social media to facilitate networking and social learning. |
| 7. The assessment of learning outcomes is closely aligned with the learning context (Spector & Koszalka, 2004). | Constructive alignment of learning/assessment tasks with the intended learning outcomes. |
| 8. The assessment of learning outcomes is linked to meaningful problems and tasks, and aimed at helping students further develop their knowledge, skills and problem-solving abilities (Spector & Koszalka, 2004). | The learning activities directly linked with the learning scenario, function as assessment tasks - Individual activity (a creation); Collaborative activity (discussion forum); Reflective activity (self-reflections). |
| 9. The assessment of learning outcomes is designed to develop self-regulatory and meta-cognitive skills (Spector & Koszalka, 2004). | Assessment rubrics created for each assessment task to facilitate development of self-regulatory and meta-cognitive skills among learners. |
Table 2
Key challenges faced and strategies to overcome them
| Challenges | Strategies to overcome | Supportive quotes |
|---|---|---|
| Novelty of the concepts – MOOCs; OEP; SBL | Expert guidance | …By actively participating I have gathered good knowledge about MOOCs. Never knew how a MOOC should be… …Team leaders’ guidance, discussions, emails…supported… …That is a very good experience for me to get the views of a professional group of researchers as well as academics… |
| Concept mapping | …Now I have a clearer idea about the CPD MOOC and how it should be developed. The process so far was really rewarding with lot of experiences and knowledge that will sharpen our way of thinking and acting… | |
| Creation of learning scenarios | Peer group discussions | …Challenge was to think…how, different levels and professions are addressed by a scenario… …We had to revise our outputs several times& |
| Development of learning/assessment tasks | Distributed work | …First going through the activities individually and then pooling our ideas together as a team was highly productive… … Assigning work to each member led me to understand the process well… |
| Collaborative work | …Most of the time we used the collaborative group work in designing of activities in the course& …Development was done step by step with group discussions& | |
| Structured workflow | ..We have been regulated by learning outcomes, constructivism, feasibility, customer attraction, being realistic, time and simplicity etc.. | |
| Reflective practice | …Also we got an opportunity to do the presentations on what we have developed in the group. The recap sessions and collaborative activities helped us to improve the way we think … | |
| Time constraints | Interactive workshops | …It took some time to get into the correct track. The time that needed to allocate for the work is one of the major barrier for me… …Difficult to find time to do all the work. Whatever done during the interactive workshops was the most productive… |
| Constant email communication | …email communication kept us informed about the next stage… |