Interne: Les objectifs MOOC de McGill

Mentionnons d’abord qu’il nous apparaît intéressant qu’une université discute de MOOC et d’autres technologies en appui à la formation dans un magazine destiné à ses diplômés. Ce pourrait-il que la qualité de la formation intéresse ceux qui ont déjà complété leurs parcours? L’article commence par aborder les caractéristiques des nouvelles générations d’étudiants dits “natifs numériques” et les technologies utilisées à l’avenant (classe inversée, captation de cours, télévoteurs).

Compte tenu des controverses entourant les MOOC, on sent une volonté de nourrir la réflexion des anciens étudiants et éventuels donateurs. McGill se positionne clairement comme voulant être partie prenante de cette “expérience” éducative :

« MOOCs represent a comprehensive experiment in digital education, and one of edX’s aims is to gather information to better understand how students function in a completely digital environment. Those findings can be applied to classes at McGill, says [Provost Anthony] Masi. “With the right data and analysis, we will be able to learn how information technologies are affecting the face-to-face education that takes place in our bricks-and-mortar environment. With edX, we have access to tools developed by people who have been thinking about these things in ways we haven’t yet.” »

Débutant en janvier 2014, les MOOC de McGill dureront 13 semaines chacun. Les exigences seraient les mêmes que pour un cours régulier: « All McGill MOOCs are expected to meet the same academic standards as regular McGill courses. » Un professeur de ce premier MOOC voit le développement de ce cours comme “tourner le film du cours“:

« January will see McGill launch its first MOOC, “Food for Thought,” a course examining the science of what we eat, taught by Harpp and his Office for Science and Society colleagues Ariel Fenster, PhD’73, and Joe Schwarcz, BSc’69, PhD’74 – McGill’s uploaded course veterans. But all involved insist that an uploaded course is not a MOOC. “The distinction between McGill’s uploaded courses and the MOOC is analogous to that of a filmed play and a movie, and the uploaded format of [‘Food for Thought’] is like a filmed play. We plan to make the movie of the course,” explains Winer. “Ultimately, we aim to develop outstanding resources that can also be used by professors and students on campus as well.”

Two more MOOCs will follow later in spring 2014, with “Rebalancing Society,” taught by Henry Mintzberg, BEng’61, and Leslie Breitner from the Desautels Faculty of Management, and “Natural Disasters,” taught by earth and planetary sciences professor John Stix and atmospheric and oceanic sciences professor John Gyakum. Another MOOC or two are planned for the fall of 2014. »

La question des coûts prohibitifs de l’opération est aussi abordée de front:

« For all the excitement that surrounds MOOCs, their long-term economic viability is still open for debate. The costs involved in producing MOOCs are considerably higher than those associated with conventional courses. Udacity and Coursera are funded by venture capitalists, while edX is supported by philanthropy.
[…]
“Right now I’m hedging McGill’s bets,” says Masi. “We’re in the edX consortium because I really believe we couldn’t not be there. MOOCs may be a game-changer, or they may not be, but if we’re not seen to be playing in this game, we’ll be left behind.” »

La question de l’interaction limitée qu’offre les MOOC est aussi discutée, alors que le professeur Henry Mintzberg veut encourager les étudiants à s’organiser en groupes d’études::

MOOC developers are giving those issues careful thought – edX, for instance, has organized in-person study groups for some of its courses, offering MOOC participants living in the same city the opportunity to come together to compare notes.

Source: McDonagh, Patrick, “A turning point for teaching», McGill News, Automne-Hiver 2013