Aboriginal Worldviews (the OISE UofT MOOC): the Finale

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Mike Ridley

AboriginalWorldviewsI should have posted this some time ago; my experiment as a MOOC student (the Aboriginal Worldviews course from OISE) has ended. The earlier posts on my experience are here, here and here.

While I wasn’t a non-completer (apparently only 2% of MOOC registrants actually complete them; woo hoo I’m a 2%er), I confess my attention waned during the latter stages of the course. The format became too repetitive, the lack of interaction was demotivating, and the assignments didn’t engage me. I didn’t dropout but I did drop back.

Karen Symms Gallagher (“Where’s the Real Learning?“) summed up my feelings in her description of her MOOC experience:

“I felt more like an audience member than a student.”

I did learn many things about aboriginal worldviews; it was an enriching and worthwhile. I also learned many things about MOOCs.

Too many MOOCs simply replicate the sage on the stage pedagogy we are so desperately trying to overthrow. Is is possible to do otherwise? I think so and as a result I’m helping a colleague (in a small way) design her forthcoming MOOC (sorry, no details yet, bound to secrecy but it should be wonderful). More on this later.

BTW the disclaimer on the Statement of Accomplishment from Coursera/UofT is almost as long as the citation:

PLEASE NOTE: THE ONLINE OFFERING OF THIS CLASS DOES NOT REFLECT THE ENTIRE CURRICULUM OFFERED TO STUDENTS ENROLLED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO. THIS STATEMENT DOES NOT AFFIRM THAT THIS STUDENT WAS ENROLLED AS A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO IN ANY WAY. IT DOES NOT CONFER A UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO GRADE; IT DOES NOT CONFER UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CREDIT; IT DOES NOT CONFER A UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO DEGREE; AND IT DOES NOT VERIFY THE IDENTITY OF THE STUDENT.

Grin.

…Mike

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Women in CIO Positions in Canadian Higher Education

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Mike Ridley

Last summer, as part of the Master of Education program I’m taking from OISE at the University of Toronto, I wrote a paper about the state of women in Chief Information Officer (CIO) positions in Canadian higher education. I looked at the research literature and interviewed a number of women about their experiences and aspirations.

Later this week I’m presenting the paper at CANHEIT, the national higher education IT conference (sponsored by CUCCIO – the Canadian University Council of CIOs).

Here’s the introduction to the paper and the presentation:

Of the 51 universities belonging to the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO) currently [in 2012] only 10 of the CIOs are women. Given the relatively high percentage of women in information technology (IT), approximately 40% of the IT workforce, why are relatively few (18%) attaining the most senior IT role?

This paper investigates the challenges, barriers, and opportunities of women in leadership roles in information technology in Canadian universities. The findings of the research literature are amplified by interviews with those in the field. Interviews were conducted with three women: a former CIO, a current CIO, and a senior IT manager with aspirations to be a CIO. In order to gain a broader view of emerging trends, the Executive Director of CUCCIO (herself a former higher education CIO) was also interviewed.

The paper will identify systemic barriers and present recommendations for personal and organizational initiatives to promote senior technology leadership for women in Canadian higher education. While more women are attaining CIO roles in Canadian universities than ever before, this positive trend is confounded by the continuing negative consequences of stereotypes and other significant career obstacles.

For those interested, here are the full paper and the slides from the presentation:

Women in Chief Information Officer (CIO) Positions in Canadian Higher Education: Challenges, Barriers, and Opportunities: Research Paper | CANHEIT Slides

…Mike

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I’m a Librarian

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Mike Ridley

I made it. I’m now a librarian. Well, to be accurate, I’m a Librarian. Those of you who know me may be wondering, “haven’t you been a librarian for some time?” Yes, and no.

Like faculty, academic librarians have ranks: Assistant Professor/Librarian, Associate Professor/Librarian, and Professor/Librarian. The later being referred to as a “full” Professor or Librarian. Having received my professional degree some years ago, I’ve been moving up the ranks over the years.

I’ve just been promoted to “Librarian.”

So what?

It’s kind of special. Not all professors or librarians achieve this rank. It requires an external review and a peer assessment. The criteria is a career long set of achievements and impacts at the national and international level. It is a promotion but with no compensation. The reward is the recognition from your peers that you have made significant and substantial professional contributions. And that, of course, is why it means so much.

I’m honoured to have received this.

…Mike

Librarian, University of Guelph

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Scarey – Just Like It Should Be

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Mike Ridley
"Talk like you are speaking to your best friend."

“Talk like you are speaking to your best friend.”

I’ve been teaching variations of a course called Beyond Literacy for a number of years (both to first year undergrads and sophisticated graduate students). After all this time, you would think I could teach this in my sleep, and with very little angst. Nope.

Teaching at its best is  …  scarey.

As part of Beyond Literacy, the students complete a class project as a final assignment. Everyone works towards a single goal although students often work on specific but interconnected teams.

They get to decide what the project is, and this semester they said “Let’s do a radio documentary!” Yikes. I started to sweat. I’m a very accomplished radio listener but I know almost nothing about how to put a radio program together, let alone how to assess it as part of the course assignment.

Scared. And loving it.

Working with the wonderful (and supremely patient) Kelly Jones at CFRU, the community radio station in Guelph, we jumped (or fell) in. As a class, we learned about radio, about composing a program, about what works and what doesn’t, and about how to assess what we’ve done. We learned the grammar of radio. We all learned together.

The program is being edited in the studio tonight so I don’t have a final product (yet) to let you hear. However, the point of all this wasn’t the outcome but the process. Like all good (and scarey) learning journeys, all the fun was getting there.

…Mike

BTW In the process I’ve become a huge fan of Spark, This American Life, and (especially) Radiolab. Pure genius all of it.

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Aboriginal Worldviews (the OISE UofT MOOC): Week 3

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Mike Ridley

Week 3 of the Aboriginal Worldview MOOC has begun. A short status report on how I’m doing and what I’m discovering.

I submitted my assignment and peer evaluated the assignments of 3 other students. The peer evaluation methodology is a bit suspect. Jonathan Rees does a good job covering this in a recent piece on Inside Higher Ed (Peer Grading Can’t Work). The assignment was very brief (250 words) and only tangentially related to the course theme. As a result, evaluating was equally superficial. I think I graded fairly but I didn’t include many comments because of the disconnect between the assignment and the relevant material in the course.

The first quiz was different. For the most part it focused on key ideas and issues. It assumed you watched all the lectures and did all the readings (which I mostly did). I was a bit surprised that when I got something wrong there was no feedback. Presumably this is because I could re-do the test many times.  I think I would have liked the option to submit the test only once but get feedback on where I went wrong.

I still am completely overwhelmed by the discussion forums. Too much; too unfocused. When I do dip in I find it moderately interesting but I’m unwilling to wade through it all to find the more interesting threads. As a result, I find myself ignoring most of it; likely to my detriment. I wonder if assigning students to small discussion groups would have helped. I would have felt obligated to engage with a group of 10-15 students but feel no such obligation with 20K+ students. I’m going to pass on the 10% grade for posting and commenting as a result.

The learning materials themselves and the manner in which the course is constructed remains impressive. I’m sticking with the course because of that. It remains a compelling course and I’m learning a considerable amount. And I suppose that’s what its all about.

…Mike

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MOOC Data & MoocMoocher (Katy Jordan)

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Mike Ridley

I’ve enrolled in a MOOC (Aboriginal Worldviews and Education) partly to explore them and partly to learn more about aboriginal knowledge systems. Apparently my interest in MOOCs (as someone enrolled in an MEd program, teaching in higher ed, and formerly responsible for the technical side of learning systems) is typical people taking these courses.

HESA (one of my favourite high ed commentators) asks Who Wants MOOCs? Apparently it’s not undergraduates. And worse yet, it might be folks like me, education professionals trying to figure them out; voyeurs if you will.

Having said that, let me point you to the site of an education professional experienced in a number of MOOCs but best of all, blogging about it with good data and data visualizations.

MoocMoocher (why such a title?) is run by Katy Jordan. Recently she blogged about completion rates on MOOCs and posted the data in a useful graph:

MOOC Completion RatesExcellent stuff.

….Mike

 

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Why I Don’t Support the Students in Montreal

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Mike Ridley

Student ProtestsWhile it is difficult to sort through all the demands of the students protesting in Quebec (some have nothing to do with higher education), at the core they want to reduce, if not eliminate, tuition.

I can’t agree with this.

Higher education is both a private and a public good. Graduates will earn more than non-graduates; they will personally benefit in a significant way. It is only fair and reasonable that they contribute to the costs since they will reap the rewards.

And who exactly would be the beneficiary of free or low tuition? It would be those who can already afford to pay existing or even higher tuition. Quebec has robust programs to assist students in financial need; those requiring help can already get it. The student demands effectively subsidize the rich. How odd.

The research data is conclusive, while student debt is certainly a concern, financial need is not the primary barrier to enrolment in higher education.

What have the student accomplished with their protests:

The PQ, upon winning the election, froze tuition and then promptly cut grants to the universities in the middle of the fiscal year (a claw back). The result was a double hit for the universities when they were already struggling.

Yes I know there have been egregious financial failures and excesses among some universities. Heads have, and should, roll. Budgets should be balanced. Governments should help make this happen. Hold the feet of university administrators and their Boards to the fire. But at the same time, dowse some of the flames.

The PQ now want to raise tuition modestly. The financial woes for the universities will continue regardless.

As the HESA folks noted: “Congratulations to students on beating the government at checkers; too bad there’s actually a chess match going on.”

There is no question that in the rest of Canada the balance of financial responsibly for higher education has shifted from the government to the student. The result has been rising tuition and increased debt load. There has also been a rise in philanthropy as more and more of the budget shortfall is picked up through fundraising. Canada doesn’t have much of a tradition of alumni supporting their alma mater (unlike the US). Assuming we can (as we have for the most part) controlled for donors interference, this is a good thing.

The student protests and demands mask the real challenges of funding higher education in Quebec. This is a massive diversion. And the quality of higher education in Quebec will be the victim.

…Mike

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Aboriginal Worldviews (the OISE UofT MOOC): Week 1

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Mike Ridley

The first week of Aboriginal Worldviews and Education has begun. As expected, it has attracted a broad and diverse set of students in terms of location, educational level, age and just about every other factor. While I have no official data we are being told that there are over 20,000 registered students.

A Google map shows the location of some of the students:

Aboriginal Worldviews MapSo, what do I think so far?

On balance, I’m quite impressed with the course and the delivery system. Coursera has a very clean, easy to navigate UX. The menuing system is simple and uncomplicated. The course materials are well presented, easy to access, and there is a clear sequence and signalling as you move through the items and section.

The mix of materials (videos, web resources, documents, etc.) is good and the quality excellent so far.

Because this is a short course (four weeks), I was concerned that it is a condensed, modified version of the traditional course. Still not sure if this is the case or not but so far it has been sufficiently rigorous and engaging to satisfy me.

I will be interested to see how the evaluation works. Part of this is a peer review process whereby I will review at least 3 assignments submitted by other students. I will be interested to see how (or if) I am expected to take into account the diversity of the individuals (the age range of the students extends from 9 to 63).

Already I can see that the discussion forums are going to be a bit problematic; too many posts, too loosely tied to specific topics, making it hard to track. One of the challenges is going to be tracking the substantive class conversations without being overwhelmed by the chatter and the asides.

However, so far so good.

…Mike

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Writing on the Net (Writer’s Workshop Presentation)

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Mike Ridley

Today I presented a session at the University of Guelph Library’s Writer’s Workshop. The topic was: Writing on the Net. Exploring Participatory, Online Writing: the Good, the Bad, and the Trolls.

The workshop was focused on my experimental “book-like-thing” Beyond Literacy. What we talked about was not the content of the book (the demise of literacy and the rise of post-literacy) but its open, participatory nature and what this meant as an author (or facilitator).

What the Editorial Team and I wanted to create with Beyond Literacy was a networked conversation using a variety of tools on the Internet and involving as many voices as possible. I describe this as exciting and terrifying. We learned how to create engagement, wrangle trolls, willingly lose control, encourage diversity, accept harsh criticism, and sustain a narrative while relishing chaos. Fun.

Beyond Literacy did entice many contributors and commentators, and it did get 1000s of readers. Next time we will do similar and different things. It was a wonderful experiment.

Here are the slides from the workshop.

…Mike

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Mike Meets MOOC

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Mike Ridley

HE WordleMOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) hardly need an introduction. They were everywhere in 2012 and promise to be even more dominant (distracting?) this year.

I decided to see what all the fuss was about (and to actually learn about something that interests me). So I signed up for the Aboriginal Worldviews and Education course offered by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. This is a Coursera offering.

The description sounded interesting given my focus on higher education policy and practice:

Intended for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal learners, this course will explore indigenous ways of knowing and how they can benefit all students. Topics include historical, social, and political issues in Aboriginal education; terminology; cultural, spiritual and philosophical themes in Aboriginal worldviews; and how Aboriginal worldviews can inform professional programs and practices, including but not limited to the field of education.

The course is taught by Jean-Paul Restoule, an associate professor of Aboriginal Education in the OISE Department of Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education.

I will comment here on my experience as the course progresses. Looking forward to finding out more about MOOCs and Aboriginal worldviews.

…Mike

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