Re: addressing the unemployment problem

I think the issue may NOT be MOOcs., of which there are many. How do we teach effectively and interactively to classes of 20-150? Note I say interactively. MOOCs are usually very self-driven. WE need to consider how we engage students in near-real-time and collaborative contexts. For someone like me who teaches applied science, programming and design, types of courses, it’s a critical question.

Lyn Bartram
Professor | School of Interactive Arts and Technology

Director | Vancouver Institute of Visual Analytics
Simon Fraser University | Surrey
250, 13450 102 Ave., Surrey, B.C. V3T 0A3
T: 778.782.7439 | M: 604.908.9954 | www.sfu.ca/~lyn

From: David Hik <david_hik@sfu.ca>
Date: Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 11:41 AM
To: Philippe Pasquier <pasquier@sfu.ca>, Michael Filimowicz <michael_f@sfu.ca>
Cc: "academic-discussion (academic-discussion@sfu.ca)" <academic-discussion@sfu.ca>
Subject: Re: addressing the unemployment problem

Hi Phillippe and Michael

I agree with you, that MOOCs have great potential to take what we do inside the classroom and make this material available (to quote Michael) “at scale”. Not every course or topic can be best delivered online or at scale, but this could be a good time to have more conversations about how to facilitate access to online SFU course materials (both for credit, for life-long learning, and as a public service), and accelerate the development of new online courses and programs (esp. as CODE courses are transitioned to the departments). There is a good discussion about some of these issues on @HigherEdSurge https://www.edsurge.com/higher-ed

As Phillippe mentions below, I have had a some experience with MOOCs, co-developing two courses that curiously continue to attract students from around the world.

Sheep in the Land of Fire of Ice (hosted by University of Iceland on EdX platform) is a shorter 4-Lesson course, and it is probably not suitable to offer for credit to SFU students (but could be used as a supplemental resource for other courses).

Mountains 101 (hosted by University of Alberta on Coursera platform) is a 12-Lesson MOOC that I have decided to adapt and offer for-credit as SCI 190 in the Spring 2020 Semester (http://www.sfu.ca/outlines.html?2020/summer/sci/190/d100). There are no prerequistites. So please let your students know about this in case they are interested (course description below).

cheers

David

David Hik
Associate Dean - Academic, Faculty of Science
&
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences (SSB 8157 - office; B9223 - lab)
8888 University Drive, Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada
Phone: 778-782-6547 (office)
https://www.sfu.ca/biology/people/profiles/dhik.html

Acknowledging that we live and work on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish First Nations

SUMMER 2020 - SCI 190 D100
SPECIAL TOPICS IN SCIENCE INTERDISCIPLINARITY (3): Intro to Mountain Studies
Class Number: 5677 Delivery Method: Distance Education - http://www.sfu.ca/outlines.html?2020/summer/sci/190/d100

Course Description: Mountain Studies is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship emphasizing the interconnections between the physical, biological, and human dimensions of mountain environments. This introductory course focuses on the physical (geology, climate, hydrology, glaciers, hazards), the physiological (bodies at altitude), the biological (plants, animals, ecology, conservation), and the social and cultural (mountains in popular imagination, literature, tourism, economies) dimensions of these global landscapes. Focusing on western Canada, we will examine the complex processes of change that are shaping local and regional mountain environments around the globe, past and present. Melding practice and theory, this lecture-based survey course provides a general introduction draws from scholarship from the earth sciences, biological sciences, applied physiology and environmental sciences. Crossing conventional disciplinary borders, this course will provide a foundational introduction to further study.

Prerequisite: None. The final exam will be held on August 14 from 12:00 - 15:00.

PS - the uptick in global online learning has been hard to ignore in the past month! - here is the increase in both daily and monthly active learners for Mountains 101 since the start of #stayathome

cid:BAC69B8E-47D7-4974-8E25-694615D54DDF@hitronhub.home

On Apr 4, 2020, at 4:36 PM, Philippe Pasquier <pasquier@sfu.ca> wrote:

Well said, Michael.

While the COVID-19 pandemic is not a conspiracy to accelerate the CODE transition, now is a good time to consider the potential virtues of online education (given that we already know and value in-person teaching).

I have been fortunate to get SFU to sign in for a course on the Kadenze MOOC:

https://www.classcentral.com/report/moocs-for-credit/#kadenze

https://www.kadenze.com/programs/generative-art-and-computational-creativity

and, in fact, students can get SFU credits by completing the two courses online.

There are probably others reaching both SFU and non-SFU students. I know that Pr. David Hik is also teaching a popular MOOC class, but not sure if students can get SFU credits in his case:

https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2019/05/the-dirt-on-sustainable-sheep-farming.html

Stay safe everyone.

Regards,
--
Philippe Pasquier
------------------------------------------------

PhD, MSc, Associate Professor,

Associate Dean Academic,

Faculty of Communication, Arts and Technology (FCAT)

Director, Metacreation Lab for Creative AI.

School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT),

Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.

http://www.sfu.ca/pasquier | h ttp://www.Metacreation.net
http://MusicalMetacreation.org | http://MovementComputing.org/
Kadenze Class on Creative AI: https://tinyurl.com/ycvleqlm
---------------------------------------------------------------
<OutlookEmoji-157231183098239dc9244-b96c-4d92-a63a-95ca8db5cd3a.png>

Simon Fraser University is based on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish people.

From: Michael Filimowicz <michael_f@sfu.ca>
Sent: April 4, 2020 9:39 AM
To: academic-discussion (academic-discussion@sfu.ca)
Subject: addressing the unemployment problem

I think it's important to look beyond our own needs to consider those of the wider society. Millions of jobs lost, which even if the pandemic ended tomorrow, many won't be coming back. The university, as a core institution of civilization, has a special obligation to do what it can to help those suddenly economically dislocated to gain a foothold in the economy.

While many in the academy are not thrilled with online learning (it seems no number of decades of research can counter general perceptions based on Medieval traditions), there's really no other way to educate at scale than online delivery methods. Society is going to have a major education-at-scale problem (actually, it has already had this problem for many years, given the millions of annually vacant technology jobs, which the 'bootcamp' industry has addressed– now this education-at-scale problem has become much worse).

South of the border, University of Washington invested years ago in infrastructure to educate millions of students online, and its Continuum College annually awards 50,000 + certificates and degrees. A forward-thinking approach to address vast society unemployment would be to consider ideas that often seem to be anathema to the general local discourse, such as awarding university credit to students who complete courses on the MOOC platforms, which many other universities (and, very high quality ones, too), have pursued:

https://www.classcentral.com/report/moocs-for-credit/

Best,

Michael Filimowicz, PhD

Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology

School of Interactive Arts and Technology | Simon Fraser University

Office: SUR 2818 | 250-13450 102 Ave. Surrey, BC V3T 0A3

T: 778-782-8178 | Skype ID: michael.filimowicz