EVALUATION OF MALAYSIA PILOT MOOC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the effort of expanding and improving the access of Malaysia Public Institutions of Higher Education, four pilot courses have been chosen, whereby 30% of the overall contents were developed in the form of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). This initiative is a collaborative effort between various parties at all levels to improve the quality of teaching and learning in these respective institutions. The initiative started in November 2013, with a target deployment in September 2014, taking advantage of the commencement of the first semester of 2014/2015 academic year. A research project funded by the Ministry of Education through the initiative of Malaysian Public Universities e-Learning Council (MEIPTA) was conducted simultaneously.

This report laid out the key findings of the project, the lessons learnt, the outcomes of the evaluation process, and a set of recommendations based on the findings for Malaysian Higher education institutions, policy makers, and academics interested in exploring the use of MOOCs.

We hope that this document will benefit all parties especially to our stakeholder, the Ministry of Education, and give us better understanding of the deployment of MOOC in the national education.

KEY FINDINGS

• The students access MOOC utmostly once a week and majority of them were first time MOOC users. Most students access MOOC in their hostels using the wifi connections at night. MOOC is capable to support learning in providing learning resources and activities outside the classroom. MOOC should benefiting teaching and learning in the classroom with dependable infrastructure. Even though MOOC were new, but the finding showed positive acceptance of MOOC in teaching and learning by the students.

• The lecturers who teach the courses involved with the pilot MOOC were mostly first time users. They were competent in all types of activities embedded in MOOC like: e-content development; file sharing; initiate online quizzes, online forum, social media communication, and interactive presentation activity; but least competent at video production activity. Only few of them who were highly competent at online learning task. This happened, presumably because MOOC is considered relatively new in the Malaysian tertiary education settings, and since MOOC is still at its early stage of implementation (pilot).

• Students evaluated the quality of infrastructure and info structure provided for MOOC: the accessibility of MOOC; Internet speed; video streaming; and downloadable video, which indicates reliable access, equipment and MOOC platform as moderate.

• Lecturers evaluated the quality of infrastructure and info structure provided for MOOC considerably high. It indicates that lecturers were reaching an agreement on the accessibility of MOOC anywhere within the campus and at any time, agreeing that they have sufficient equipment to access OpenLearning from any device but found difficult. Lecturers were somewhat unsure whether they will definitely use OpenLearning for other courses and were rather sceptical in using the MOOC in their teaching and learning processes. There is a possibility that the platform used, of which OpenLearning was very new to the lecturers.

• Students have reached an agreement on the suitability of curriculum used in MOOC delivery.

• The lecturers have reached an agreement on the suitability of curriculum used in MOOC delivery. However, lecturers’ mean score was slightly lower than the students’ mean score.

• Students have reached an agreement on the suitability of learning design in MOOC.

• Lecturers have reached an agreement on the suitability of pedagogy used in MOOC.

• Students have reached an agreement on the suitability of the content in MOOC.

• Lecturers have reached an agreement on the suitability of the content in MOOC. However, it was far lower than the students’ agreement.

• Students have reached an agreement on the suitability of assessment in MOOC for their learning activities.

• Lecturers have reached an agreement on the suitability of assessment in MOOC, whether by means of giving quizzes in between or at the end of the lesson.

• Lecturers were somewhat unsure whether the training given to them will motivate them to utilize the MOOC in their teaching practices. It was probably due to MOOC was relatively new to them.

• Collectively, the coordinators perceived that lecturers were given the necessary trainings in order to make sure that they were able to utilize the MOOC during their teaching and learning process.

• In overall, based on the findings, it was confirmed that institutions did provide somewhat adequate MOOC teaching and learning supports to lecturers.

• Collectively, the findings on enculturation of MOOC at public universities were the lowest, and it is an alarming phenomenon since enculturation is indeed an important aspect in making sure the success of MOOC implementation.

• It shows that MOOC allowed different range or levels in gaining cognitive benefits. The findings also indicate that students were reaching an agreement on the ability of MOOC in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in terms of skills and values.

• The lecturers have reached an agreement on the ability of MOOC in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. Especially in giving the opportunity to them to share their knowledge.

• Insight from the MOOC developers on the (i) MOOC enablers for their institutions; (ii) planning; (iii) development models; (iv) designs (v) development of videos; (vi) quality control of the videos; and (vii) resources management and copyrights issues were sought and the finding shows different approaches were made from different universities in planning, developing and managing the pilot MOOC.

RECOMMENDATION

MOOC PROVIDERS

• The first issue that providers need to consider is the enculturation of MOOC within their institution. More proactive actions and initiatives are needed to be planned ahead and in place by strengthening the awareness among university’s staff especially on open education concept.

• MOOCs should succeed in providing the practical, interactive, engaging and hands-on learning experiences which are required for teaching the skill based courses. Therefore, in terms of the pedagogical model, it is crucial to consider the standard formulas of academic courses especially the prevalent MOOC format of short video – quiz – forum that are optimal for this study. There is a need for more engaging strategies - collaboration between peers, team work, and the possibility of interacting and obtaining feedback both from the experts and peers. MOOCs should offer opportunities for learner interactions that allow actual group work and project-based interaction.

• In terms of the business model, universities should not only focusing and putting their expectation on recruiting paying students as the MOOC participants. Other possible models could be based on supplementing existing study programs by offering MOOCs on niche or emerging topics which cannot be covered by any on campus or formal academic programs. Another possibility would entail partnerships between different institutions, where MOOCs would be produced by universities and sponsored by industry or government bodies.

• Continuous research to ensure the quality of the learning experience in MOOC, in terms of engagement, feedback, usability, and appropriateness of content and activities should be also taken into account.

POLICY MAKERS

• MOOCs are considered new phenomenon in Malaysia. However, there are still policy makers at university level that have not realised the MOOC potential and therefore they shall fail in redressing the expected shortage in a skilled workforce for MOOC innovation.

• There is a need to build awareness of MOOC potential within the professional community. Likewise, it is crucial that MOOC providers tune their offerings to the preferences of learners and the needs of industry.

• MOOCs can benefit to address the challenges in connecting the university and industry in maintaining a skilled workforce.

• MOOC can be used for the initial training of university graduates to meet the requirements of entry level jobs when the collaboration with the industry is in place.

• MOOCs can also be used, perhaps even more effectively, for the continuous upskilling of existing employees to meet the needs of the industry.

• There should be partnership between educational providers and the industry to guide them in the production of new MOOCs.

Please email me for the final report copy to habibah.jalil@gmail.com