The second iteration of the Metadata MOOC recently ended, and Statements of Accomplishment have gone out. So now I can share some data from round 2. Recall that back before round 2 launched, I made some predictions about how student engagement in the course would play out over the course of the course. Well, it turns out that I lowballed myself… over the 8-week span, the number of active students.. Read More
Predictions about the Metadata MOOC round 2
The second iteration of the Metadata MOOC launches tomorrow! You may recall that I wrote several posts after the first iteration wrapped up, presenting some descriptive stats from the course. I plan to do the same with the second iteration, of course, because I’m a geek and I love almost nothing more than a big dataset. But that’s 8 weeks away. So to keep myself entertained in the meantime, I.. Read More
LMS Bingo
I realized yesterday that in my long and storied career in academia, I’ve taught with a pretty fair cross-section of learning management systems. And then, because I’m just that compulsive, I started to try to count them. So for your edification… or maybe for my own amusement… here’s that list. WebCT: I cut my teeth on this LMS, way back as a doctoral student at Syracuse University. I used it.. Read More
Data about the Metadata MOOC, Part 4: Completion
I’ll be honest, I’m getting a little tired of just delivering descriptive statistics about my Metadata MOOC. I’d like to delve a little deeper, do some hypothesis testing (for example, students in the developing world are more likely to complete the course than students in the first world), or do some comparison across courses. But for the moment, descriptive stats are what I have for you. My old stats professor.. Read More
Data about the Metadata MOOC, Part 3: Discussion Forums
Welcome back, dear reader, for more gripping data from my Metadata MOOC. This time let’s look at activity on the discussion forums. I’m moving the raw data and the definitions of the stats down, into what would be an appendix, if blog posts had appendices. Posts + Comments, in the figures above, is my own addition. Yes, Posts and Comments are different: if I understand correctly how Coursera’s discussion forum.. Read More
Data about the Metadata MOOC, Part 2: Video Viewership
Welcome to part 2 of my reporting on data from my Metadata MOOC. Today, let’s look at video viewership. And, the raw stuff: Definitions of these stats from the Coursera help documentation: Total Streaming Views: The sum of the total number of times each video lecture has been streamed. Total Downloads: The sum of the total number of times each video lecture was downloaded to a student’s computer. Unique Videos.. Read More
Data about the Metadata MOOC, Part 1: Student Activity
My Metadata MOOC is over! I clicked the button to issue Statements of Accomplishment and Verified Certificates earlier today. (If you were a student in the MOOC and you’re reading this, it will take about a week for these to actually be issued, during which Coursera will complete their review and work their magic on their side.) I’m very pleased with how it went, but I’ll make that the topic.. Read More
MOOCs and OA
One of the FAQs on the course description page for my Coursera Metadata MOOC says: Will there be a required textbook? No. Readings will be selected from freely available articles, web content and open access scholarly literature. When I teach a classroom-based course, I can easily assign subscription content to my students: articles in journals or chapters from ebooks that the UNC libraries subscribe to. As I understand it, all.. Read More
I’m a Courserian
Last night, Coursera announced their most recent round of new partner universities, of which UNC-CH is one. Back in November, the Provost issued a Call for Proposals for MOOCs, and I submitted two. About a week & a half ago, I was informed that one of my proposals — for a course on metadata, modeled on the School’s course INLS 720 — was accepted as one of the first round.. Read More