Interactive Breakout Session OPN01
Who Killed the MOOC? Join the Jury
Date Thursday, Dec 1 Time – RoomCharlottenburg I
In December 2016, OEB will call a range of witnesses to the stage in order to resolve doubt and solve a problem around a specific issue in the realm of learning and technology. You, the audience, are asked to provide a final verdict on the case which holds the global education sector in suspense under the headline: Who Killed The MOOC.
A few weeks ago a body was found in a locked apartment in London. Fingerprint, dental and DNA identification turned up no matches. The police were initially mystified but a more detailed search revealed a scrap of paper tucked in a corner of the room, which looked like it had come from a conference badge, with the letter T and the word “Mooc” just about visible. Was there a letter k after the c? Some said yes, most felt no. The body, tall and thin, was dressed in an unflattering combination of casual and business clothes which would not have won any prizes at a fashion or style event.
There were not many people in London whose surnames were Mooc or Moock. None of them were missing. Enquiries were made of the landlord - but all he could say was that the apartment was rented to a company with the ambitious name of “Global Universal Learning Free” registered in Panama City. Of course the owners could not be identified.
Because of that Panama link, the body’s build and the way the body was dressed, rumours began to surface that the body was that of the mysterious person called “The MOOC”. Many around the world had heard this character or seen The MOOC at a distance or online but few had met The MOOC face to face. Those few told contradictory stories. Some said that The MOOC was talkative, some said taciturn. Others said that The MOOC had often spoken to them about soon becoming very rich, but had always asked them to buy the coffee or food. On a few occasions The MOOC gave away free books on interesting topics, but mostly The MOOC tried to sell them. Did The MOOC have lots of friends or was The MOOC very lonely? Or maybe even had enemies? No one could agree.
The one thing that most agreed on was that The MOOC often slipped away when they were not paying attention, only to turn up days or weeks later in a different city.
The purpose of this coroner’s court of inquiry is first to determine what was the cause of death of the body believed to be The MOOC. Was The MOOC murdered or did The MOOC die of natural causes? Or was the body not that of The MOOC but of somebody else who just happened to look and dress a bit similarly? In that case, where in this world (or another?) was the real The MOOC?
The coroner, Paul Bacsich, will question pre-selected members of the audience known to have views on the issue. After each witness has answered the coroner’s questions, the audience (all deemed to be interested parties) can ask each a few questions. At the end of this inquiry at OEB 2016, based on the evidence and questions we will ask your vote.
Wolfram Laaser
Akademischer Direktor i.R., Akademischer Direktor i.R., Fernuniversität in Hagen, Germany
Dr. Wolfram Laaser, Born 03.10.1943,
PhD. in Economics at Technical University Berlin (1974)
Academic Director (Akademischer Direktor) at FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany until 2008
Temporary Lecturer at Universities of Paderborn (1985-87) and Frankfurt (1981)
Lecturer Online Course at UNED, Spain 2003/2004 (Master in Distance Education)
Lecturer Online Courses (Multimedia in Distance Education, Economics of eLearning) University of Joensuu, Finland 2005/2006 (IMPDET International Multidisciplinary PhD Program on Educational Technology)
Online Seminars (Master in Distance Education) PROED, University of Cordoba, Argentina 2007-2012
Online course “Diseño y Gestión de Materiales Electronicos, Master Program in Computer Science, University of Alcala, Spain 2007-2013
Consultant ELBEP (Eliminating Language Barriers in European Prisons through Open and Distance Education Technology) EU Grundtvig Project 2008/2009
Member of International Panel, Reforming Higher Education Distance Learning in Portugal, 2009
Consultant of Worldwide Education (2014 renamed Austrian School of Applied Studies), Wels, Austria 2010 -2015
Development of interactive multimedia courseware (CD-ROM and WEB-based Training).
Training seminars for distance educators in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Research and curriculum development in Educational Technology.
Educational Video and TV Productions about subjects of Education, Humanities,
Economics, Business Administration, Law and Electrical Engineering.
Numerous international publications in books and journals.
Links
Brian Mulligan
Programme Manager (Development), Centre for Online Learning, Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland
Brian Mulligan is a Civil Engineer who originally worked in mathematical modelling and simulation and the application of information technology in engineering. He is currently on secondment as a Programme Manager responsible for online learning development in the Centre for Online Learning at the Institute of Technology Sligo where he has lectured since 1984. He has been the key driver in the rapid growth in online learning in IT Sligo since 2002 and significantly involved in the growth of e-learning in Ireland since 1999, organising the EdTech series of conferences since 2000 and as a founding member of the Irish Learning Technology Association in 2002. His main areas of expertise are now in web-casting, webinar management, synchronous online training, instructor-led online training, lecture capture, open education (MOOCs and OER) and the rapid development of online content. He currently is the leader of the Erasmus+ funded LoCoMoTion project on low-cost MOOC development.
Links
http://www.itsligo.iehttp://brian.mulligan.googlepages.com
Melissa Highton
Assistant Principal for Online Learning; Director of Learning, Teaching & Web, University of Edinburgh, UK
Melissa is Director of Learning, Teaching & Web at University of Edinburgh, Information Services. She is part of the senior management team leading institution-wide strategic projects and services. She has significant management level experience in the higher education sector delivering technology projects with global reach.
Before University of Edinburgh she was Director of Academic IT at University of Oxford for 6 years and worked in University of Leeds, Royal Holloway University of London and Edinburgh Napier University. Melissa has a reputation for innovation/creative thinking and a track record of success in transforming the organisations of which she has been part. She has a background in facilitating change in complex institutions and experience in working with academic leadership teams. An advocate of values-based leadership, she is committed to principles of access, diversity, inclusion and openness in higher education and has the enthusiasm to continue to champion these.
Links
http://www.ed.ac.uk/information-service…
Pieter de Vries
Researcher, Lecturer, Advisor, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
My field is workplace learning and mobile learning with the focus on new strategies and concepts to improve human performance and improve the organizations’ capacity for change and innovation.
The main issues are: business scenarios for learning in the extended enterprise, learning value management, impact assessment, informal and autonomous learning and learning technology.
To date I am involved in development and research projects with industries and higher education, including the service industry, automotive, do-it-yourself, energy and defense.
Links
Jeanny Wildi-Yune
Senior Manager, KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Germany
Dr. Jeanny Wildi-Yune is Senior Manager in Consulting Data & Analytics of KPMG Germany. She is currently the Manager of the KPMG Insights Center in Frankfurt. Her area of expertise lies in digital learning. Jeanny has over 20 years of experience in education management covering both the industry and academic sectors. Prior, she was key account manager for corporate programs of major international companies and relationship manager for selected universities. From these activities, she gained deep insight into diverse corporate programs and executive education at leading universities.
Links
Moderator
Paul Bacsich
Senior Consultant, Sero Consulting Ltd, UK
Paul Bacsich is working for Matic Media Ltd.
He was Senior Consultant at Sero Consulting Ltd. He is Project Manager of the EU project POERUP (Policies for OER Uptake), funded under the Lifelong Learning Programme. Formerly he was Project Manager of the EU project VISCED (Virtual Schools and Colleges) and played a leading role in the Erasmus project Re.ViCa (Review of Virtual Campuses).
He is also active in benchmarking, change management, and market research for online providers.
In addition to open and distance learning, and open and online resources, he has a long-standing interest in competency-based education and in particular generic skills.
Some of his recent thinking can be found in his paper for the "Open Education 2030" HE workshop, published in their blog, and his UNESCO policy brief on "Alternative Models of Education Delivery".
In his former academic career he was a researcher at Oxford University, lecturer and researcher at the UK Open University, and Professor of Telematics at Sheffield Hallam University.
Links
http://www.sero.co.uk/people/paul/http://www.matic-media.co.ukhttp://bacsich.typepad.com/elearning/