MOOCs, learning designers and the unbundling of educator roles in higher education
MOOCs, learning designers and the unbundling of educator roles in higher education
In university educational technology projects, collaborations with external partners pose a range of opportunities and challenges. Educational projects are often associated with unbundling of conventional higher education roles though there is limited empirical work in this area. This is particularly the case with massive open online courses (MOOCs), where further research is needed into the production of courses and the roles of those who produce them. This study investigated the extent to which conventional roles of academics are unbundled during MOOC production partnerships between universities and an external MOOC platform provider. The findings indicate that aspects of conventional educator roles are substantially unbundled to learning designers and other seemingly peripheral actors. Unbundling is partially driven by pragmatic decisions shaping course production processes which need to accommodate the massive and open properties of MOOCs, the nature of cooperation agreements with external platform providers and the reputational risk associated with such public ventures. This study adds to empirical knowledge on the unbundling of roles in online learning projects, and the findings have relevance for those involved in decision-making, planning and development of such projects in higher education.
unbundling, MOOCs, third space, learning designer
71-84
White, Steven
70933f3e-72e4-4291-8569-b75129806d93
White, Su
5f9a277b-df62-4079-ae97-b9c35264c146
Borthwick, Kate
34fa2da0-35c3-4302-932c-141b94aec4b4
White, Steven
70933f3e-72e4-4291-8569-b75129806d93
White, Su
5f9a277b-df62-4079-ae97-b9c35264c146
Borthwick, Kate
34fa2da0-35c3-4302-932c-141b94aec4b4
White, Steven, White, Su and Borthwick, Kate
(2020)
MOOCs, learning designers and the unbundling of educator roles in higher education.
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 36 (5), .
(doi:10.14742/ajet.6111).
Abstract
In university educational technology projects, collaborations with external partners pose a range of opportunities and challenges. Educational projects are often associated with unbundling of conventional higher education roles though there is limited empirical work in this area. This is particularly the case with massive open online courses (MOOCs), where further research is needed into the production of courses and the roles of those who produce them. This study investigated the extent to which conventional roles of academics are unbundled during MOOC production partnerships between universities and an external MOOC platform provider. The findings indicate that aspects of conventional educator roles are substantially unbundled to learning designers and other seemingly peripheral actors. Unbundling is partially driven by pragmatic decisions shaping course production processes which need to accommodate the massive and open properties of MOOCs, the nature of cooperation agreements with external platform providers and the reputational risk associated with such public ventures. This study adds to empirical knowledge on the unbundling of roles in online learning projects, and the findings have relevance for those involved in decision-making, planning and development of such projects in higher education.
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mhenderson,+6111-Article+Text-20573-1-11-20200901
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e-pub ahead of print date: 26 October 2020
Keywords:
unbundling, MOOCs, third space, learning designer
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Local EPrints ID: 495023
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/495023
ISSN: 1449-3098
PURE UUID: 6e5915ae-5bb9-4799-8abb-8109ba4847b7
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Date deposited: 25 Oct 2024 16:58
Last modified: 26 Oct 2024 01:40
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Author:
Steven White
Author:
Su White
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