Community and Social Presence in a MOOC: Course Design for Student Engagement
Abstract
A unique partnership between an education faculty member and computer science faculty member provided an opportunity to secure grant funding from Google to implement a massive open online course (MOOC) to provide professional development in computer science education to K-12 teachers from the United States and several other countries. The faculty members were especially concerned about creating a MOOC in which participants felt engaged and developed a sense of community. The idea of “social presence” provided the conceptual framework for course design. Several pedagogical design decisions were made, including the use of Google Hangout, to facilitate a sense of community. The study is still in progress. A preliminary review of the data point to several course design features which appeared to support the goal of building community with online adult learners. In this session, attendees will have an opportunity to review course design features that appear to have had a positive impact on developing community and engaging learners in this massive open online course. Attendees will also be invited to share their own experiences and insights in building community in the online environment with adult learners.
Location
Room 1005
Recommended Citation
Takkunen, Chery and Rosato, Jennifer, "Community and Social Presence in a MOOC: Course Design for Student Engagement" (2014). SoTL Commons Conference. 6.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2014/6
Community and Social Presence in a MOOC: Course Design for Student Engagement
Room 1005
A unique partnership between an education faculty member and computer science faculty member provided an opportunity to secure grant funding from Google to implement a massive open online course (MOOC) to provide professional development in computer science education to K-12 teachers from the United States and several other countries. The faculty members were especially concerned about creating a MOOC in which participants felt engaged and developed a sense of community. The idea of “social presence” provided the conceptual framework for course design. Several pedagogical design decisions were made, including the use of Google Hangout, to facilitate a sense of community. The study is still in progress. A preliminary review of the data point to several course design features which appeared to support the goal of building community with online adult learners. In this session, attendees will have an opportunity to review course design features that appear to have had a positive impact on developing community and engaging learners in this massive open online course. Attendees will also be invited to share their own experiences and insights in building community in the online environment with adult learners.
