MOOC pedagogy; Enthusiasm for digital games; Predictors for satisfaction in online learning

3 recent papers to do with learning and technology.
- Stieler-Hunt, C. and Jones, C. (2015). Educators who believe: understanding the enthusiasm of teachers who use digital games in the classroom. Research in Learning Technology, 23. "This study used qualitative methods to explore why some educators embrace the use of digital game-play (DGP) in the classroom. The results indicated that these teachers had a very strong belief that DGP could be beneficial for learning which stemmed from experiencing their own form of subjective success with using DGP in the classroom, availing themselves of information and advocacy about using DGP in the classroom and personal experiences with DGP either through their own DGP or through watching their own children play games. They also shared positive attitudes towards information and communication technologies generally and had initially been invited to use DGP in the classroom by someone in authority. ... Finally, this study indicates that teachers need to experience their own form of subjective ‘success’ in order to find DGP valuable and this subjective ‘success’ often goes beyond test score performance." http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/index.php/rlt/article/view/26155 (open access journal)
- Kauffman, H. (2015). A review of predictive factors of student success in and satisfaction with online learning. Research In Learning Technology, 23. It identifies learner characteristics and the literature (perhaps unsurprisingly) shows that "Adequate instructional methods, support, course structure and design can facilitate student performance and satisfaction." http://www.researchinlearningtechnology.net/index.php/rlt/article/view/26507
- Ferguson, R. et al. (2015). Moving through MOOCS: pedagogy, learning design and patterns of engagement. In: EC-TEL 2015: Tenth European Conference on Technology-Enhanced Learning (Klobucar, Tomaž and Conole, Grainne eds.), 16–17 September 2015, Toledo, Spain. Springer.
"Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are part of the lifelong learning experience of people worldwide. Many of these learners participate fully. However, the high levels of dropout on most of these courses are a cause for concern. Previous studies have suggested that there are patterns of engagement within MOOCs that vary according to the pedagogy employed. The current paper builds on this work and examines MOOCs from different providers that have been offered on the FutureLearn platform. A cluster analysis of these MOOCs shows that engagement patterns are related to pedagogy and course duration. Learners did not work through a three-week MOOC in the same ways that learners work through the first three weeks of an eight-week MOOC." Proof copy: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/87328/ Priced final version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24258-3_6
Photo by Sheila Webber: Another Place, Antony Gormley sculptures: a Gormley and a not-Gormley, October 2015