Reflection Post #2: MOOCs and BYOD in Education

This week I read about MOOCs in Adrien Basdevant and Julia Brannon’s article, “Will The Future of Education Be Online, Open, And Massive?”.  MOOC stands for “Massive Open Online Course”- A concept that I was not familiar with.  It is free to anyone with internet access and intends to support lifelong learners and self-motivated individuals.  MOOCs have become a more popular resource for students due to the rising cost of a campus-based higher education.  MOOC platforms like Coursera, edX, and Udacity do not offer degrees or credit hours for their classes but still provide graded feedback and often certificates of completion for their classes.  They are great resources for employees to brush up on specific skills and for students to obtain higher learning for free.  Additionally, MOOCs are putting pressure on campus-based higher education to find new ways to cut costs and offer more distance learning opportunities. They challenge existing colleges and universities to improve the quality of teaching and student success rate. 

Another new tool for learning in the education field is BYOD, (“Bring Your Own Device”.)  In the article, “Technology in Education: BYOD & Equitable Access”, Deborah McCallum explains how employers and schools are making choices about whether or not to let students bring their own cell phones, laptops, ipads, etc. to increase the use of technology in work and school settings.  BYOD encourages the use of 21st century skills that will help students be prepared for future employment.  It makes learning interactive and offers many opportunities for peer collaboration.   Students can work at their own pace on devices they are navigationally familiar with.  Furthermore, it cuts technology costs for schools who provide computer and internet access.  BYOD does have some downsides, though.  According to McCallum, it can cause a “digital divide” among students who do not have proper resources or a familiarity with technology.  It can also be difficult to control viruses and updates on such a wide variety of mobile devices.  Schools and employers have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages to decide on whether BYOD is a logical choice for them.

Technology is providing learners with exciting ways to gather information and teachers with new methods of connecting to students.  It’s fantastic to read that institutions like MIT are able to provide quality classes for students free of charge.  I think MOOCs will be most useful to students in search of continuing their education or brushing up on old skills.  MOOCs would also be beneficial for teachers and employees in areas of business that require license and certification renewals.  Classes could be developed based on the needs of a company or district and provided to employees to prepare them for license and certification renewal.  While I don’t think they have the business model or experience yet to develop degree programs, I do think MOOCs take positive risks in education to determine the best ways to improve learning access and student comprehension. 

BYOD is another great way to improve student learning in physical as well as online classrooms. Students can bring in a device that is within their financial means or purchase a device for a low cost from their district.  In theory, students would navigate efficiently with their device because they are familiar with it outside of school.  Our district lets teachers decide whether or not they want to allow devices in the classrooms, but unfortunately we do not have extra devices of any kind that can be loaned or purchased for students who do not have one. 

Our district has also piloted the use of 1:1 Chromebooks this year for certain grade levels, but I wouldn’t say it has been 100% successful.  The internet restrictions have been increased dramatically and students cannot access many harmless educational websites.  The server has gone down several times due to the impact of so many new devices on the network.  Most of the teachers were trained on how to use the Chromebooks but were not given Chromebooks to keep for themselves in the classroom.  Consequently, the teachers are confused and unsure of what the students are capable of accomplishing on their Chromebooks.  While 1:1 technology provided by the school seemed like a great idea, there is a lot of room for improvement.  

The level of success with the Chromebooks in our school leads me to think that BYOD would still be worth trying if there was an option to purchase a discounted device for students in need.  BYOD would allow many students to use their own data plans, freeing up space on the server.  Using their own data would prevent sites that can be used for educational purposes, such as Cleanvideosearch.com, from being blocked.  Regardless of whether students or schools provide technology, it is important that teachers and students are expected to obtain a certain level of comprehension in technology.  Each population should go through classes (maybe a MOOC?) to review ways to complete common tasks such as cutting and pasting, sending emails, opening files, and sending attachments.  Taking time to review basic tech skills periodically would decrease the "digital divide" among students and teachers, allowing more time for learning in other content areas.