Overview of papers on enhancement of European Higher Education as presented during the Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference in Rome, October 2016

This research identifies the relationship between Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) design and delivery and long-standing and well-researched principles of an Online Community of Inquiry. The emergence of MOOCs rekindled a commitment by universities to increase access to knowledge validated and created by academic researchers. Because the MOOC initiative emerged ahead of the normal rigorous evaluation that accompanies design and delivery in higher education, many questions remain unanswered. This research seeks to answer the questions: Will online and distance instructional design (ID) and delivery principles be applicable to MOOCs, given increased class-size, unpredictable, wide ranging academic backgrounds of learners, availability of open education resources, and varied purpose among learners? Which ID principles are relevant and what might be added in consideration of unique MOOC characteristics?

The MOOC studied for this research is entitled Learning to Learn Online, delivered in 2015 and revised and delivered again in 2016. This course is a public offering by Athabasca University, Canada’s Open and Online University. Athabasca University is committed to offering affordable, high quality, inclusive education. Learning to Learn Online (LTLO) allows novice online learners to explore how online education differs from traditional classrooms while they develop personal strategies for online learning success, and beyond. The course reviews common misconceptions, frustrations, and fears about online learning and introduces techniques to help overcome learning obstacles.

This paper and presentation describes activities and experiences of a MOOC targeted at novice online learners in reference to principles of Presence from the Online Community of Inquiry framework.

Keywords

community of inquiry · instructional design · MOOCs · online learners