Integrating MOOCs into traditional higher education modules: a MOOC-based blend framework

Abstract

Online learning platforms, such as MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), continue to expand, and some academics are taking advantage of these resources by integrating them into their teaching. The literature shows that there are many different ways that MOOCS are being blended into on-campus university teaching, and it would be helpful to have a framework that demonstrates the relationship between the in-person and MOOC curricula content, and the Blended Learning models used in practice. This study investigated how some UK academics are blending MOOCs into their in-person teaching and whether the blends used had any impact on course design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants with MOOC blending experience, and data were analysed using an inductive approach to Thematic Analysis. Results from this study generated an understanding of (1) what parts of MOOCs lecturers are using and how these resources are being blended into their in-person courses, (2) what kind of impact a MOOC-based blend can have on a course design and (3) the MOOC-based blend framework – a framework to assess the extent to which readily available MOOCs are integrated into lecture-based university modules in terms of curricular alignment and types of blend.

An L-MOOC to Improve Communicative Competence: From Blended Learning to OERs in the University Classroom

“…Firstly, a corpus of OERs with linguistic contents for academic mobility was generated, as these materials can also be used by university teachers for academic stays who want to practise the target language. Secondly, the project proposed a model of validating and preserving MOOCs by integrating them into university courses [10,45,52,61]). Finally, the training of university students using open contents was improved.…”

“…At that time, the teaching situation at the University of Alicante was hybrid, because part of the student body attended class in person and a large part connected from home, so the L-MOOC and the distribution of the forms were appropriate to the situation, improving the expectations of students towards this type of course [51]. The use of this MOOC within the contents of a university degree followed previous implementation models [52][53][54] as a blended learning activity [55] and was adjusted to the teaching requirements of our university due to the COVID-19 pandemic.…”