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
You don’t owe me an apology
Gentle reader, good news. My long-awaited essay was published this morning in the Inside Higher Ed Views section. Long-awaited by me anyway… the IHE editor was very expeditious in moving this piece along, but I started writing the stupid thing 6 months ago. I originally titled the piece “You don’t owe me an apology.” But the IHE editor changed it to the, I have to admit, better title “No Apologies.”.. 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
Gearing up for round 2 of the Metadata MOOC
I mentioned in a previous post that we’re relaunching the Metadata MOOC. The official launch date is Monday July 14, & like last time it will run for 8 weeks. Which means it will wrap up on September 5 (or that following weekend). Which hopefully means that it will end just in time for the start of the semester… which of course is only an issue for MOOC students who.. Read More
The Metadata MOOC takes over the world!
I continue to futz around with the data from the Metadata MOOC. About 2 weeks ago, I was interviewed for this story in the UNC University Gazette. (It’s a good story, you should read it. And not because I’m quoted… honestly, Don Hornstein said much more intelligent things than I did.) Anyway, one of the questions the reporter asked me was: What was the breakdown of countries the students were.. Read More
Students take MOOCs out of general interest. In other news, water is wet.
In my last post, I posed the question: Why do students engage in a course, when they began intending to lurk? So I thought I’d do some more fishing, to see if I could identify students who, at the end of the course, were motivated to do it again for a Statement. Because if we could identify these students before the course, maybe we could get them to engage more.. Read More
More analysis of the Metadata MOOC: Statement of Accomplishment earners
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted any data analysis of my Metadata MOOC… so to the 5 of you who were looking forward to hearing more about it, I apologize. But I’ve started thinking about this again. For one thing, I’m collaborating with colleagues on 2 projects making use of data from the MOOC. I’ll report on those projects, when there’s something to report. For another thing, I’m.. Read More
MOOC in the Classroom
Ithaka S+R recently produced a report titled MOOCs in the Classroom? Which is well worth a read, and I recommend it. I’ve dedicated the past several posts to analyzing data from my Metadata MOOC. But what I haven’t mentioned is that this semester I’m also teaching the Metadata course (INLS 720) for my School, the School of Information and Library Science, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill… 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