So I Survived Disruptive Technologies MOOC, run by Hank Lucas and his able teaching assistant
Frankie the dog from the University of Maryland. I managed to submit both assessments and get my certificate of completion. In comparison to the University of Edinburgh's E-learning and Digital Cultures MOOC it was for me more time consuming, I would say that the 3-4 hours were an underestimation, when you take into account the work required for the mid-term and final assessment, Edinburgh's time prediction for its MOOC, 5-7 hours was far more accurate and I think at least 5 hrs would have been more accurate for Hank's. As with the Digital Cultures MOOC I did not engage with the discussions, I think it is a challenge when there are so many people and you are time poor. I think this is something MOOC runners really need to look at, as discussions in my experience do not appear to work and I am an advocate of discussions for developing and consolidating knowledge in elearning, a technical solution for the automation of groups I think could help with this. With respect to the assessments both were peer assessed by 4 people, both required a high pass mark 8 out of 12 and 10 out 14 respectively and you had to pass both to get a certificate of completion. The peer assessment and the need to pass both did generate considerable discussion and criticism, in particular, with regards to the inconsistency of marking, the need to pass both to get a certificate of completion and the high pass marks. However, Hank, must be commended, he listened to the comments and decided to combine the scores on the midterm and term project so that a higher score on one made up for a lower score on the other and to account for any problems with peer grading, he reduced the point total needed for a certificate to 16 out of 26 or 61%.
The course was mainly delivered from a US perspective and I think there should have been a more critical analysis with respect to those companies who have successfully survived the disruptive practices, in particular the social cost, the conditions of the workers in these companies e.g. Amazon and the lack of unionisation to protect workers' rights. However, I did take away that organisations should face up to the disruptions of technology and should scenario plan around their potential impact. Organisations, also, have to understand the needs of their customers if they are to have any chance of being successful and the sometimes this requires taking risks. Furthermore, middle managers should think creatively and encourage creativity in the workplace. I, also, found the lecture on complicated electronic systems and their impact on the product design an eye opener - I did not know that there are more lines of code in a BMW than a fighter plane! And I really liked the presentation of the video lectures despite being recorded the tutor presence was far more apparent than in Edinburgh's and this is really important and often overlooked aspect of eLearning to enhance student experience.
Frankie the dog from the University of Maryland. I managed to submit both assessments and get my certificate of completion. In comparison to the University of Edinburgh's E-learning and Digital Cultures MOOC it was for me more time consuming, I would say that the 3-4 hours were an underestimation, when you take into account the work required for the mid-term and final assessment, Edinburgh's time prediction for its MOOC, 5-7 hours was far more accurate and I think at least 5 hrs would have been more accurate for Hank's. As with the Digital Cultures MOOC I did not engage with the discussions, I think it is a challenge when there are so many people and you are time poor. I think this is something MOOC runners really need to look at, as discussions in my experience do not appear to work and I am an advocate of discussions for developing and consolidating knowledge in elearning, a technical solution for the automation of groups I think could help with this. With respect to the assessments both were peer assessed by 4 people, both required a high pass mark 8 out of 12 and 10 out 14 respectively and you had to pass both to get a certificate of completion. The peer assessment and the need to pass both did generate considerable discussion and criticism, in particular, with regards to the inconsistency of marking, the need to pass both to get a certificate of completion and the high pass marks. However, Hank, must be commended, he listened to the comments and decided to combine the scores on the midterm and term project so that a higher score on one made up for a lower score on the other and to account for any problems with peer grading, he reduced the point total needed for a certificate to 16 out of 26 or 61%.
The course was mainly delivered from a US perspective and I think there should have been a more critical analysis with respect to those companies who have successfully survived the disruptive practices, in particular the social cost, the conditions of the workers in these companies e.g. Amazon and the lack of unionisation to protect workers' rights. However, I did take away that organisations should face up to the disruptions of technology and should scenario plan around their potential impact. Organisations, also, have to understand the needs of their customers if they are to have any chance of being successful and the sometimes this requires taking risks. Furthermore, middle managers should think creatively and encourage creativity in the workplace. I, also, found the lecture on complicated electronic systems and their impact on the product design an eye opener - I did not know that there are more lines of code in a BMW than a fighter plane! And I really liked the presentation of the video lectures despite being recorded the tutor presence was far more apparent than in Edinburgh's and this is really important and often overlooked aspect of eLearning to enhance student experience.
