Ahmed Mohamed Fahmy Yousef

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) present an emerging branch of online learning that is gaining interest in the Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) community. Due to the massive nature of MOOCs, the amount of learning activities might become very large or too complex to be tracked by the course participants. Learning analytics can provide great support to learners in their MOOC experience. In this paper, we focus on the application of learning analytics from a learner perspective to support self-organized and network learning in MOOCs through personalization of the learning environment, monitoring of the learning process, awareness, self-reflection, and recommendation. We present the details of a study we conducted to evaluate the usability and effectiveness of the learning analytics module in the blended MOOC platform L 2 P-bMOOC.

The pedagogical strength of Video-Based Learning (VBL) is presenting knowledge in consistent and attractive manner. In recent years, the new forms and technologies of VBL such as flipped classrooms, and most prominently MOOCs, have had a remarkable impact on teaching and learning methodologies. A significant number of academic publications have investigated and analyzed VBL environments from different perspectives, including potential usage, effects on learning outcomes, satisfaction levels, and effectiveness. This study provides a critical analysis of the current research in VBL conducted from 2003 until today. We aim to help educators in building deeper understanding about the educational benefits of VBL. In this study, 76 peer reviewed papers are identified through journals and academic databases and they are categorized into four main dimensions: effectiveness, teaching methods, design, and reflection. In the scope of this analysis, we also provide future visions and research op...

In the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as a new form of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL), in higher education and beyond. Recognizing the limitations of standalone MOOCs, blended MOOCs (bMOOCs) that aim at bringing in-class (i.e. face-to-face) interactions and online learning components together have emerged as an alternative MOOC model of teaching and learning in a higher education context. In this paper, we present the design, implementation, and evaluation details of a bMOOC course on “Teaching Methodologies” at Fayoum University, Egypt in cooperation with RWTH Aachen University, Germany, provided using the bMOOC platform L2P-bMOOC. In order to gauge the usability and effectiveness of the course, we employed an evaluation approach based on Conole’s 12 dimensions rubrics, ISONORM 9241/110-S as a general usability evaluation, and a custom effectiveness questionnaire reflecting the different MOOC stakeholder perspectives.

ABSTRACT Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have a remarkable ability to expand access to a large scale of participants worldwide, beyond the formality of the higher education systems. MOOCs support participants to be actively involved in collaborative learning and construct their own learning experience in a variety of domains. However, one of the biggest challenges facing MOOCs is how to assess the learners' performance in a massive learning environment beyond traditional automated assessment methods. To address this challenge, peer assessment has been proposed as an effective assessment method in MOOCs. The problem is, however, how to ensure the quality of the peer assessment in terms of validity and reliability. Moreover, assessment in blended MOOCs (bMOOCs) introduces unique challenges regarding the best peer assessment model in a learning environment that brings together face-to-face interactions and online activities. This paper presents the details of a study conducted to investigate peer assessment in bMOOCs. The study results show that flexible rubrics have the potential to make the feedback process more accurate, credible, transparent, valid, and reliable, thus ensuring the quality of the peer assessment task.

— Video-Based Learning (VBL) has a long history in the educational design research. In the past decade, the interest in VBL has increased as a result of new forms of online education, such as flipped classrooms, and most prominently MOOCs. VBL has unique features that make it an effective Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) approach. This study critically analyzed the current research of VBL published in 2003-2013 to build a deep understanding on what are the educational benefits and effectiveness that VBL has on teaching and learning. 67 peer reviewed papers were selected in this review and categorized into four main dimensions, namely, effectiveness, teaching methods, design, and reflection. In the light of the discussion of current research in terms of these categories, we present the future vision and research opportunities of VBL that support self-organized and network learning.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are providing limitless opportunities for thousands of learners to participate in free higher education courses online. Indeed, MOOCs have drastically changed the way we learn as well as how we teach. MOOCs have unique features that make it an effective Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) approach in higher education and beyond. The number of academic research around MOOCs has grown rapidly in the last few years. The purpose of this paper is to compile and analyze the state of MOOC research that has been conducted from 2008–2014. A template analysis was used to map the conducted studies on MOOCs into seven dimensions, namely concept, design, learning theories, case studies, business model, targets groups, and assess‐ ment. This classification schema aims at providing a comprehensive overview for readers who are interested in MOOCs to foster a common understanding of key concepts in this emerging field. The paper further identifies critical challenges that have yet to be addressed and suggests opportunities for future work in the area of MOOCs that will support communication between researchers as they seek to address these challenges.

— Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have gained a lot of attention in the last years as a new technology-enhanced learning (TEL) approach in higher education. MOOCs provide more educational opportunities to a massive number of learners to attend free online courses around the globe. Discussions around MOOCs have been focusing on the potential, social, institutional, technological, relevance, and marketing issues and less on the quality design of MOOC environments. Several studies have reported a high drop-out rate in average of 95% of course participants and other pedagogical problems concerning assessment and feedback. Thus, the quality of MOOCs design is worth additional investigation. Although several studies identified a large set of criteria to the successful design of TEL systems in general, not all of them can be used in the MOOC context, due to some unique features of MOOCs. This study is a first step towards identifying specific criteria that need to be considered when designing and implementing MOOCs. The results of this empirical study are based on a large survey targeting learners as well as professors, both with MOOC experience. As a result, we identified and rated 74 indicators classified into our two main dimensions of pedagogical and technological criteria distributed over six categories. From these, the learning analytics and assessment categories were found to be the key features for effective MOOCs.

To provide MOOC participants with efficient learning resources and feedback according to the unique needs of each learner is obvious a greater challenge. In this paper, we describe the top five challenges that have the power to hinder the overall personalize MOOC experience. In addition to that, we suggest new opportunities considering individual differences in order to support personalized MOOC experience.