Key ideas

Our research analyzed the agency and level of autonomy required by learners participating in a MOOC.

• Ponton, 2005
• Bouchard, 2009
• Boucouvalas, 2009

determining factors in success of SDL journeys:

• the learning environment
• learning context
• the connections people make during their learning

Aligns with Bandura’s (2002, p. 269) ideas on “human agency” Three types:

• personal agency exercised individually
• proxy agency, in which people secure desired outcomes by influencing others to act on their behalf
• collective agency, in which people act in concert to shape their future in whatever cultural context they inhabit

Learners move through different phases of self-direction (Tough, 1979; Grow, 1991)

In Bouchard, 2009Bouchard, P. (2009). Pedagogy without a teacher: What are the limits. International Journal of Self-Directed Learning, 13. (psychological, pedagogical and two environmental)

• Conative dimension: relates to psychological issues such as drive, motivation, initiative and confidence. Also aspects of context and transitions, how these influence people’s urges to take up learning, and the social networks that people are involved in and which act as affective support and resources. Past learning experiences might also influence autonomous learning strategies.
• Algorithmic dimension relates to pedagogical issues, for instance the sequencing, pacing and goal setting in learning, the evaluation of progress, and final evaluation and preparation for validation. Tasks that in the past were carried out by the educator; in an autonomous learning environment, they become issues that learners themselves have to resolve.
• Semiotics of learning is related to the delivery model of resources. This model has drastically changed in recent years and moved from the use of resources such as books and paper to electronic texts and multimedia
• Aspects of economy: the perceived and actual value of the learning, the choice to learn for personal gain such as for future employment, and the possible cost of other study options.

• semantic web and learning analytics
• network as a place to learn
• power relations and structure of networks/web
• cloud computing and Web 2.0

PLENK, 10 weeks, 1641 participants

Surveys, statistics, some ethnography and focus panels (especially focused on lurkers)

used Social Network Analytics and Social Networks Adapting Pedagogical Practice (SNAPP) tool (browser plugin)

Visualization tool NetDraw to create ego network, understanding role of particular actor in discussion

Many lurkers, because of time, lack of comfort, or because they believe they learn well that way (problematic for networked learning - if everybody lurked, there would be no common materials generated).