Our Edx Micromasters(TM) pilot aims to address how online education programmes at scale can be configured and supported in such a way to ensure an optimal learning experience for the student by using new educational research in the pedagogic design of the new programmes. We’ve learned a lot from MOOCs and our online masters programmes already, but this is new. Our new pedagogic model, originally scoped by Professor Sian Bayne and Dr Michael Gallagher, works to address the challenges and advantages of distance education by offering discipline-relevant approaches to at-scale provision.
We have spotted some risks inherent in doing a project which focusses on scaling up online learning:
- learners may not feel part of a community
- academic colleagues may not feel sufficiently supported to deliver high quality teaching
- colleagues or students may consider lower-cost education to imply lower quality.
We’ve thought about these risks and we are building an academic /staff development programme to get colleagues working together to think about these challenges. The Edinburgh Extension Model development programme will extend teaching reach, practice and the university by ensuring that tutors involved in the design and delivery of Micromasters programmes understand research evidenced best practice and available tools to:
- Help students to feel like they are members of a learning community, a sense of belonging within their department, programme, and the University of Edinburgh
- Provide capacity for regular and substantive feedback on students’ work across different media
- Provide for visible, and visibly engaged, teachers who are experts in their fields
Work on the staff development training resource is progressing well. We’ve got a cracking team working on it. The core development team for the course consists of:
• Stuart Nicol: Learning, Teaching and Web Services
• Dr Michael Gallagher; Centre for Research in Digital Education
• Andres Ordorica; Instructional Designer, Learning, Teaching and Web Services
• Sheila MacNeill; Consultant expert academic developer
The programme will be piloted in September 2019.
