Open Pedagogy as Open Course Design
Adventures in a Connectivist MOOC on Open Learning
Susan J. Erickson
Author
- Susan J. Erickson, Virginia Wesleyan University
Project Overview
Project Discipline: Professional Development
Project Outcome: cMOOC
Tools Used: Google Hangout, Virtually Connecting, Twitter, Blogs, RSS
This chapter describes a librarian’s experience working with teaching faculty to create a program to support faculty development through an online Hub website and connectivist Massive Open Online Course (cMOOC). A cMOOC is a particular type of MOOC, grounded in connectivist principles where learners co-create knowledge and connect through social media such as blogs and social networks (McCauley, Stewart, Siemens, & Cormier, 2010). Initially conceived as part of a program of the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U), the Open Learning cMOOC concept continued beyond the seed funding from the Association for another two years thanks to the dedication of a small steering committee of faculty from a variety of institutions in Virginia. This chapter demonstrates how a connectivist MOOC and innovation hub website provided a robust environment for professional development over the course of three years. The story reveals how a librarian was able to contribute to such a project, and eventually step up to lead the cMOOC in its final iteration.
The Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) is committed to supporting liberal education through advocacy and programming. One of its cornerstone programs over the past decade has been its LEAP States Initiative (AAC&U, n.d.-b). According to the Liberal Education and America’s Promise section of the AAC&U website, the LEAP States Initiative has been serving as a “national public advocacy and campus action initiative” in support of liberal education since 2005 (AAC&U, n.d.-c). Virginia’s participation in the LEAP States Initiative includes both public and private institutions that are members of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).
In 2016, AAC&U provided funding to those LEAP states that committed to developing Faculty Collaborative “Hub” projects. According to the AAC&U website, the purpose of the Faculty Collaboratives Hub project was “to launch large-scale collaboration that begins with LEAP outcomes and enables faculty to use the frameworks and tools of an array of connected and aligned projects or initiatives…” (AAC&U, n.d.-a). The Hub was envisioned as a “virtual center with a public URL for communications and community organizing” (AAC&U, n.d.-a), and specifics were further outlined as follows on the Faculty Collaboratives section of the AAC&U website:
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- Easy to find online—with links to it readily available on related sites (a system site, for example)
- Created as a durable and resilient resource for the state and collaborative
- Welcoming to all faculty and all educators, using language that is appropriate to the context of the state coll