Encourage faculty to build on MOOCs

Background

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) and their ilk are capturing attention across the higher education landscape this year.  While it may be unwise for Mills to jump on the bandwagon, we should explore the ways in which this and related new technologies could be exploited here.

Proposal

Consider giving partial teaching credit to a professor who takes a MOOC along with her students, providing supplemental material and discussions as needed.  In computer science, for example, we are not able to offer many electives, both due to a shortage of FTE and due to the specialization of current faculty.   One can imagine that it might be more advantageous for students if a faculty member offered two or more MOOC-based electives in place of a single traditionally delivered elective.  The students would get more choices and faculty would broaden their teaching repertoire and expand their knowledge of new subfields.

Use Technology to Improve Productivity

Technology is perhaps an area where higher education institutions act least strategically or at best with uncoordinated strategies that leave faculty out of the mix.  It's not surprising -- things move very fast, resources are limited, expertise is fragmented -- but it is an area with opportunities to do better.  And the time is now as enthusiasm about MOOCs and other forms of online education sweeps the land and private, for-profit actors are aggressively going after the money the country spends on higher education.

Proposal

Guiding Principles

First, consider a set of guiding principles for discussion.  We suggest arriving at some core ideas to guide how we investigate the adoption of new educational technologies.  Some food for thought:

1. Do not over-standardize.  Innovation happens fast.  The contexts in which technology has to operate are wildly variable across disciplines.  
2. Develop mechanisms for exchange of experience and ideas among the faculty.
3. Place priority on technology that makes teaching easier.  Avoid technology that makes administration easier by displacing work from clerical staff to faculty.
4. Don't squander resources enticing faculty to adopt technology for its own sake.  Instead, put the resources into identifying actual pedagogical problems that technology can help to solve.  
5. Don't ask "what do you want?" Instead, listen to challenges of teaching and find/invent useful solutions.
6. Don't characterizes non-adopters as luddite, backward, or obstructionist; ask why the new toy has not yet won them over.
7. Make sure the folks who work with faculty on educational technology have the most up to date tools needed to do their jobs.

MOOCs

The massive open online course (MOOC) phenomenon is developing and spreading extremely rapidly.  The technology and how it is organized are changing almost faster than institutions can think through how they might want to use it.

Focus on tools that can be adopted/adapted.  Assemble teams of faculty to investigate together?  Lectures?  Assessment tools?  Auxiliary courses.

Take initiative to decide how we might award credit for MOOC work rather than waiting for outside organizations to work this out.

Classrooms

We can make great strides over our past efforts at coordinated classroom design.  Faculty should be sent to visit schools that have set up the latest in "smart" classrooms to get ideas about the array of possibilities out there and to think together about which of these might best be adapted to the Mills context.  Do not leave this task up to supervisors or architects or individual faculty members; instead focus on teams.  

Think through the lessons learned in classrooms designed over last ten or so years (Stern 14, Parsons lab, natural sciences building, GSB).  Talk to faculty who use these rooms and students who sit in them.

To the degree possible, experiment with different facilities, tools, layouts, etc. Observe, collect data (what do we know, for example about our colleagues who have used clickers or collaborative shared screen technologies?).  

Ongoing Training

There should be a continual series of introduction to new tools workshops, classes, online tutorials, what have you.  Instructors are ready for things or in need of things at different times.  Figure out what the most effective means are.  What timing makes most sense for faculty?  What top time-saving tools can we offer?

Set goals for technology savvy across college staff and offer regular opportunities to enhance one's tech skill set.  Every time staff learn a new tool to use in their job, there is a potential productivity increase.  Think of this as a good investment.