# data[].attributes.body
Last few weeks have been overwhelming with the assignments and deadlines and personally I feel exhausted and my creativity supplies are finishing :)

I was not very enthusiastic about the mini-course project from the beginning, that was why I agreed to prepare the unit of ‘learning styles’ when it was suggested by my group member. However, after getting the feedback from Andreas and reading more about the learning styles, I realized that it was really a myth and I did not want to prepare a course on something I did not believe in. After some discussions we agreed on the topic I could do instead of ‘learning styles’ and I started to work on it.

I have known my group members for more than a year now and I know their approaches towards learning. I knew from the beginning that one person in my group was quite rigid and hard to work with, as their approach to learning process is quite traditional and they rarely change their views on something. We had some misunderstandings on how the course should look in our group, as our perspectives and approaches are different. Some of us wanted it to be more personal (not traditional, academic style), with less formal language and creative design, while others were simply following the structure and the wording of the original online course delivered by Andreas.

I like when things are structured and organized, therefore I really liked the book design in my section, as it is simple to use and well structured. Also, because it was different and no-one else even from the other groups had it. However, I had to change it into separate pages. This was a little bit frustrating and upsetting for me.

It is not the first time I had to work in a group, I think I am really good at communication with people and group works. I think in this group, we did not have enough time to meet more frequently and elaborate more comprehensive model of our course or try to convince each-other in our views.

Despite all the differences, I think in the end we as a group managed to create interesting and cohesive course and enjoyed doing it. I am happy with the consensus we managed to achieve and I enjoyed creating and designing my unit.

# data[].attributes.headline
Week 2 - Why not mix and match learning ‘modules’ rather than lock into 12-week university courses?” What do you think about this suggestion? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Week 2 - Why not mix and match learning ‘modules’ rather than lock into 12-week university courses?” What do you think about this suggestion? 

# data[].attributes.body
I think mixing and matching will be beneficial for my current studies, as I will be able to tailor the program according to my preferences - take some courses which are more interesting and suitable for me and my country's context and exclude those which I have already learned previously or are too theoretical.

I think this approach will be suitable for almost every kind of learners and every type of learning (short online courses are already matching to learner's preferences)
However, I think it is necessary to have 'default' model of the programme - which means having a list of compulsory subjects which are essential for the programme. Later on, this 'default' model can be customised according to the learner's interests.

After Bologna Declaration in 1999, most of the Europian countries have a similar tertiary educational system which enables students to choose the courses during their undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Georgia joined the Bologna Process from 2005, therefore I could also tailor the studies during my BA and previous postgraduate degree. As I mentioned above, we had a list of mandatory courses, which we had to cover during our studies at the university. The semester, professor of the course, time and even small seminar group was depending on our choice. This free choice is very important for the students for several reasons: first, BA and MA students are considered as adults and hey should be able to choose the subjects, professors and time they want to take the course. Secondly, students are held responsible for their choices, which is an important life lesson for a student, who is pursuing a degree; and thirdly, many students tend to work during their studies and they need to be able to choose specific days and hours when they study and when they have time to work. In my country, postgraduate courses usually start after 6 PM which gives the opportunity to students to work during the day.

As for this programme - I don't think the structure and Erasmus plus regulations give the opportunity to change the courses according to students' preferences. However, in each university, we have the possibility to choose additional subjects/courses we want to learn.

# data[].attributes.headline
Week - 3 On Bandura's Social Learning Theory

# data[].attributes.subject
Week - 3 On Bandura's Social Learning Theory

# data[].attributes.body
The environment around us changes very fast, there are hundreds of different learning and teaching tools and methods available, therefore I do not think that one theory can cover what learning means in today’s technologically progressed society. However, I like Social learning theory by Albert Bandura, which is based on the assumption that people learn how to behave by observing others. But we also learn by analysing the feedback from the environment and in this way, social learning theory emphasises the importance of the person and the environment as the sources of learning (Athanasou, 2008). The fundamental concept of Bandura’s theory is reciprocal determinism, which points out a complex interaction between individual factors, behaviour, and environmental stimuli and this interaction is reciprocal, thus each can influence and/or change others (Gerrig, 2013).

Albert Bandura has proposed the concept of reciprocal determinism to describe his view that human development is an interaction between a person, person’s behaviours, and environment and the links between them are bidirectional, thus they influence and have an effect on each other (Shaffer, 2009). He refers to reciprocal determinism as a model of causation and foundation of social (cognitive) learning theory (Bandura, 1989).

I agree to Bandura’s idea that ‘People are both products and producers of their environment’ (Bandura, 1989). We can say that our behaviour can be influenced by our attitudes, beliefs, emotions, and prior experience (good or bad) or by different stimuli available in the environment. At the same time, our behaviour can have an effect on the environment and crucial characteristics of our personality can be affected by the environment or by feedback from our behaviour (Gerrig, 2013).

References:
Athanasou, J. A. (2008). Adult educational psychology. Rotterdam: Sense.
Bandura, A. (1989). Social cognitive theory. In R. Vasta (Ed.), Annals of child development. Vol.6. Six theories of child development (pp. 1-60). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Gerrig, R. (2013). Psychology and Life (20th ed.). Pearson.

# data[].attributes.body
-What kind of online teacher u would like to be?
-What kind of online students would u like to have?
-How u think u could change their lives through your teaching?
-Are u like the students u would like to have?

Since I have not yet taken any online course except Research Methods and teaching adults online from Open University of Cyprus I do not have the ideal image of an online teacher.

However, I would like to be present, supportive and inclusive teacher. By present I mean constantly commenting, replying to my students questions or discussions, be not only the moderator of the discussions but equal participant. By supportive – I mean helping my students to overcome difficulties, by sharing additional materials and if necessary having consultations with them. And by inclusive – I mean trying to reach to everyone, listen to everyone and consider their ideas.

I would like to have computer literate students, preferably, or if not brave students who will be willing to engage in this online endeavour with me and discover new interesting educational tools.

I think by giving them interesting materials to read/watch, motivating them to look for answers and think critically and sometimes maybe being their online friend or a mentor – I could change their lives.. maybe a little bit.

I think I have been quite active and engaged during this course, I like exploring new tools and using them, so I’d say, I am like the student I would like to have.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
My self-reflection on Teaching Adults Online course delivered by Open University of Cyprus and Prof. Andreas Kollias

# data[].attributes.body
Community of Inquiry short info-graphic

# data[].attributes.headline
Week 6 -The Other Adult Learner in lived experience

# data[].attributes.subject
Week 6 -The Other Adult Learner in lived experience

# data[].attributes.body
The controversial discussion about MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses has been going on since their first appearance in 2008. MOOCs have the ambition to ‘make education borderless, gender-blind, race-blind, class-blind and bank account-blind’ (Agarwal, 2013). There are several advantages of MOOCs which include flexibility in time and space, accessibility, and affordability for everyone, data collection and analyses to improve and refine educational strategies, enabling life-long learning for adults who do not have time or finances to learn something new. Despite the high drop-out rates, thousands of students still follow through the courses and get the certificate and this number is bigger than the largest university hall filled with students (Norvig, 2012; Glass et al, 2016).

The main criticism and disadvantage of MOOCs are several barriers for learners: language, ICT illiteracy, no access to the internet and/or computer and the final certificate which may not be acknowledged by employees all over the world (Glass et al, 2016).

It is difficult to say who gains more from MOOCs: tens of thousands of students who enrol and watch several videos, thousands of students who complete the courses and get certificates or the universities who develop expensive online platforms and offer them for free. According to Shimon Schocken ‘essential role of education is not teaching alone, it is to provide environments for self-learning’ (Schocken, 2012). MOOCs definitely create the learning environment for self-regulated, motivated students with internet access and proficiency in English. In the long run, only time will show what is the future of MOOCs in education.

References:
Argawal, A. (2013, January). Why Massive Open Online Courses (still) Matter. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/anant_agarwal_why_massively_open_online_courses_still_matter
Glass, C. R., Shiokawa‐Baklan, M. S., & Saltarelli, A. J. (2016). Who Takes MOOCs? New Directions for Institutional Research, 2015(167), 44-55. doi:10.1002/ir.20153

Norvig, P. (2012, February). The 100 000 student classroom. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_norvig_the_100_000_student_classroom
Schocken, S. (2012, June). The self-organizing computer course. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/shimon_schocken_the_self_organizing_computer_course/transcript?language=en

# data[].attributes.headline
Learning online: massive open online courses (MOOCs), connectivism, and cultural psychology.

# data[].attributes.subject
Learning online: massive open online courses (MOOCs), connectivism, and cultural psychology.

# data[].attributes.body
The authors discuss connectivism as a new learning theory and argue that this conception of learning is problematic and does not suggest anything new. Pioneers of cMOOCs (mainly Siemens and Downes) argued that none of behaviourism, cognitivism, or constructivism could adequately explain learning which happened in Web 2.0. Therefore they gathered some psychological assumptions and suggested connectivism as a new learning theory. Since then, connectivism has received critiques from different authors. Most of them suggested that connectivism is not a learning theory, as it does not offer anything new and it’s a mixture of already existing ideas. Critiques see connectivism more as a pedagogical view than as a theory.  The authors also discuss connectivism and its legacy, compare it to different psychological perspectives and conclude that if connectivism is not a valid learning theory, there is the urgent need to build an adequate pedagogy for MOOCs, which will be based on a valid learning theory. The authors suggest Vygotskian cultural psychology, and propose two initial principles: the visualization of objects and the enabling of dialogic and sustained joint activity.

Clarà, M., & Barberà, E. (2013). Learning online: massive open online courses (MOOCs), connectivism, and cultural psychology. Distance Education, 34(1), 129-136.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reconceptualizing the community of inquiry framework: An exploratory analysis

# data[].attributes.subject
Reconceptualizing the community of inquiry framework: An exploratory analysis

# data[].attributes.body
The authors of the article examine Community of Inquiry framework using quantitative content analysis and social network analysis with discussions in a doctoral course. Authors calculated frequencies of all four presences (Social Presence, Cognitive Presence, Teaching Presence and earning Presence), then computed correlations to check which presence corresponded with the critical thinking modes. The results suggest that abovementioned presences do not exist independently, rather they interact and correlate with each-other. Therefore, the authors conclude the research suggesting a tentative reconceptualization of the CoI framework. In this reconceptualised framework, the introduce Social-Learning Presence – reflecting attitudes, abilities and behaviours; Social-Teaching Presence – reflecting the roles specific to online instructors; and Social-Cognitive Presence – emphasizing that knowledge construction is not just cognitive but rather a socio-cognitive process.

Shea, P., Hayes, S., Uzuner-Smith, S., Gozza-Cohen, M., Vickers, J., & Bidjerano, T. (2014). Reconceptualizing the community of inquiry framework: An exploratory analysis. The Internet and Higher Education, 23, 9-17.

# data[].attributes.headline
Interdependence of roles, role rotation, and sense of community in an online course

# data[].attributes.subject
Interdependence of roles, role rotation, and sense of community in an online course

# data[].attributes.body
In this article the author explores advantages and disadvantages of online learning and asynchronous communication. According to the author the advantages of asynchronous communication is that students can overcome the time and place barrier and engage in the course anytime from anywhere. However, the disadvantage of this flexibility is the sense of isolation from other students and this feeling of isolation is a major challenge in online courses nowadays. The author introduces the starter-wrapper technique by Zhu (1996) and Hara et al (2000), according to which students take on roles to facilitate and participate in the discussions. The starters read ahead the materials, provide summary and questions for the rest, while the wrappers summarise the discussions at the end of the week. The rest of the class participates in the weekly discussions. This article used qualitative approach to examine the effectiveness of this technique in an online class. The data was collected via observations, surveys, interviews and discussion archives. The results show that interdependent roles and role rotation provide students with diverse learning experience. Moreover, students’ tendency to depend on their classmates and to participate in discussions is increased when using the starter-wrapper technique.

Jiang, W. (2017). Interdependence of roles, role rotation, and sense of community in an online course. Distance Education, 38(1), 84-105.

# data[].attributes.headline
Using Transformative Pedagogy When TeachingOnline (Steven A. Meyers)

# data[].attributes.subject
Using Transformative Pedagogy When TeachingOnline (Steven A. Meyers)

# data[].attributes.body
In the article the author describes transformative pedagogy and its application to online learning. The author points out several important areas: 1) safe environment - cornerstone of transformative pedagogy is the creation of a supportive learning community. A climate of acceptance is necessary because of the implicit challenges to students’ ideas that are integral to this teaching approach.
2) Encouraging students to think about their experiences, beliefs, and biases - Transformative pedagogy involves critical questioning that raises students’ awareness of their assumptions. Instructors often choose topics that purposefully encourage the clarification of students’ values and beliefs and allow them to articulate their opinions.
3) using teaching strategies that promote student engagement and participation - Transformative pedagogy assumes that students are active learners in the classroom; professors frequently use strategies such as collaborative learning, problem-based instruction, discussions, or role plays to promote engagement by not only reading the information on the Internet but also posting material online to promote student collaboration.
4) posing real-world problems that address societal inequalities -  it’s important to develop students’ understanding of different perspectives and experiences and expand their awareness of how societal forces impact people.
5) helping students implement action-oriented solutions - promote students’ reflection and help them take action in the service of the common good.

# data[].attributes.body
On Peer-grading

# data[].attributes.body
On seamless learning

# data[].attributes.body
On mixing and matching..

# data[].attributes.body
On - The Other Adult Learner in lived experience

# data[].attributes.body
Answer to Salmah

# data[].attributes.headline
Othering in online learning: an examination of social presence, identity, and sense of community

# data[].attributes.subject
Othering in online learning: an examination of social presence, identity, and sense of community

# data[].attributes.body
In this article authors try to explain the drop-out rates and feeling of disconnection from online courses by the concept of 'othering'. They conducted semi-structured interviews with 6 students and explored how they were othered.
The authors define 'othering' as: ''...othering occurs when those who differ from the dominant ideas are devalued and set apart as the other... the other is constructed by those who have more power
and authority, thus always keeping the other inferior..." The crucial part of 'othering' is the feeling of superiority, dominance over someone or a group of people. It is the perception that the 'other(s)' are somehow different and inferior and this sometimes justifies the discrimination against them.
However, this crucial component is missing from the interviews presented in the article. None of the interviewees describe stigmatisation or obvious discrimination, rather they describe the feeling of disconnection or disengagement from the online course for different reasons which again, are not discussed. The interviewees subjective feeling of disconnection might be explained with their self-esteem for example.  Moreover, there is no example of interview question regarding 'othering' specifically. Therefore, it is unclear if participants were asked about 'othering', how they were asked about it, how they conceptualised or interpreted this term, and why it is not mentioned anywhere in the article.

Phirangee, K., & Malec, A. (2017). Othering in online learning: an examination of social presence, identity, and sense of community. Distance Education, 1-13.

# data[].attributes.headline
Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education

# data[].attributes.subject
Daphne Koller: What we're learning from online education

# data[].attributes.body
According to co-founder of Coursera, Daphne Koller, offering a free education to everyone around the world, leads us to three things: establishing education as a fundamental human right; promoting and enabling life-long learning and enabling a wave of innovation. She argues that we should break away from the modern paradigm of education where ‘one size fits all’ and make it more personalised. She lists several advantages of MOOCs: 1. they are affordable for everyone with internet access. The certificates students get by the end of the course help them to get better jobs. 2. Students are able to listen to high-quality material from top universities and top professors for free. 3. Questions and quizzes during the videos compel every listener to think and remember the material and answer in order to continue watching. 4. ‘Computers do not get tired’ – students can watch the videos as many times as they wish, they can pause, rewind – which is different from what students can do in a traditional lecture. 5. A Huge amount of data of learners’ interests, demographics, and correct and wrong answers – enables researchers and educators to analyse and improve their educational strategies (Koller, 2012).

# data[].attributes.body
There are thousands of different tools for different reasons. I have decided to list only those which I have used/am using personally at some point.

# data[].attributes.body
Grammarly -separate app and also google chrome edition - very useful for proofreading and plagiarism detection. Corrects mistakes in real time and offers suggestions. Great app for learners from everywhere. Basic version is completely free!

WolframAlpha - search engine, encyclopedia and calculator. Displays information in short organised way. Why use it - if you want to save time and get concise information without googling and reading several pages.
Canva; Piktochart - free poster, info graphic, report, presentation maker with nice templates and designs. Why use it - if you want to create professional looking banner or poster or info graphic and don't know how to use Photoshop or illustrator - this is great tool. Free templates and shapes can satisfy anyone.
Survey Monkey ; Google Forms -  both tools are helpful for making surveys and questionnaires. Free versions support most common survey question types and data analysis.

# data[].attributes.body
Coursera
KhanAcademy
EdX
Patrick JMT - Math Tutorials
TED

# data[].attributes.body
On NASA and Crowd-sourcing: Exploring Space with Collective Knowledge

# data[].attributes.body
The article examines who takes MOOCs and what are the characteristics of learners. The authors analyse the data from HarvardX and MITx online courses and argue that MOOCs are far from being ‘borderless, gender-blind, race-blind, class-blind and bank account-blind’ (Agarwal, 2013) environments, rather that are dominated by college-educated males from developed countries.

Authors describe demographic characteristics of MOOC students and show that mean age of typical student is less than 30 years old and overall, about 75% is less than 35 years old. MOOCs are dominated by males – both as learners and as teachers: male-to-female enrolment ratio is about 2:1. The authors also analysed employment and socioeconomic status or MOOC learners – apparently, half of the learners are working full time, the rest are students, part-time employed, unemployed or retired. Also, about 25% of MOOC registrants are full-time educators who take courses for professional development in subjects they teach. About one third of MOOC students live in the United Stated and another one-third – in Europe. Only 4% of students enrolled in Coursera live I Africa.

The article suggests that students who are most likely to benefit from MOOCs are self-regulated learners, have flexible schedules, are digitally literate, have access to computer and internet and are proficient in English. There are also issues which undermine the legitimacy on MOOCs such as lack of credit and trustworthiness of the content.

Authors summarise demographics stating that most common MOOC student is an American, white, college-educated employed male in his mid-20s to 30s. They suggest that institutions must redesign MOOCs and policy makes must have accurate data to make decisions about MOOCs.

Glass, C. R., Shiokawa‐Baklan, M. S., & Saltarelli, A. J. (2016). Who Takes MOOCs? New Directions for Institutional Research, 2015(167), 44-55. doi:10.1002/ir.20153

# data[].attributes.body
On NASA and Crowd-sourcing: Exploring Space with Collective Knowledge

# data[].attributes.body
On MOOCs - looking forward

# data[].attributes.body
On MOOCs again - Answer to Jodie

# data[].attributes.body
Is Moocs really a educational resource for all?