Massive Open and Distance
eLearning (MODeL): UP Open
University’s MOOCs Experience
Grace Javier Alfonso
Melinda Bandalaria
Primo Garcia
ICDE
Bali, Indonesia
November, 2014
•Connectivity
•interactivity
•ubiquity
•constructivist-participatory
pedagogy
Era of Open Education
MOOCs
massive open
online
courses
mainstreaming
open education
discourse
most cited
university
reasons to offer
MOOCs
(1) “increase institution
visibility”
(1) “drive student
recruitment”
(2) “improving educational
outcomes”
The UP Open University established in 1995 to further
democratize access to higher quality education
through Distance Education
Faculty of Education
•Associate in Arts
•Bachelor of Education Studies
•Graduate Certificate in Distance
Education
•Diploma in Science Teaching
•Diploma in Mathematics Teaching
•Diploma in Language and Literacy
Education
•Diploma in Social Studies
Education
•Master of Distance Education
•Master of Arts in Language and
Literacy Education
•Master of Arts in Social Studies
Education
•Doctor of Philosophy in Education
Faculty of Information and
Communication studies
•Bachelor of Arts in
Multimedia Studies
•Diploma in Computer Science
•Master of Development
Communication
•Master of Information
Systems
•Doctor of Communication
Faculty of Management and
Development Studies
•Diploma in International Health
•Diploma in Land Valuation &
Management
•Diploma in Social Work
•Diploma in Research and
Development Management
•Master of International Health
•Master of Land Valuation &
Management
•Master of Social Work
•Master of Public Health
•Master of Hospital Administration
•Master of Arts in Nursing
•Master of Public Management
•Master of Environment and
Natural Resources Mmgt
•Master of ASEAN Studies
the UPOU expanded its reach by offering
its first MOOC
•android apps development
Smart
Communications.
•Technopreneurship.
•Fundamentals of Business Process
Management
•Business Communication
IT-Business Process
Association of the
Philippines and the
Asian development
Bank.
•Service Culture,
•Systems Thinking,
•Advanced Business Process
Management.
The MOOC/MODeL
 quality education accessible for the Filipino
learners all over the world.
 connectivist and constructivist pedagogy of
teaching, learning and research in the
digital age
 teachers and learners are co creators of
academic texts which
 growth of the different disciplines
MOOCs
MODeL
Massive open Distance eLearning
MOOC issues and challenges
1.Quality of education
cheating , plagiarism and appropriate
assessment mechanisms
2.Initial investment and sustainability model.
3.Appropriate learner support model or
framework
MOOC issues and challenges
4.Recognition and accreditation by the
industry and other academic institutions.
5. Perceived intellectual dominance resulting
from the one-way transfer of educational
materials from the rich nation states to the
much poorer developing countries
6. low course completion rates of MOOC
participants
Quality of Instruction in MOOCs
 Quality Assurance (QA) for Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL)
 the I Teach IDEA framework
(I)- institutional support or commitment
(Teach)- teaching, support staff, and the teaching learning environment or hub
(I)-IT infrastructure
(D)-design of learning and instruction
(E)-evaluation or continuous research and monitoring of the initiative
(A)- assessment of and for learning by adapting this I Teach IDEA framework
The Teach component
 teaching-learning
and research
environment or the
LMS used for MOOCs
 “unending
conversation”
MOOCathon
•
 UPOU faculty member and an
industry expert work together to
ensure content validity multimedia
formats of learning content like video,
podcasts, and texts. for MOOCs
were released for FREE SHARING
 Other universities that wish to offer the
same courses can also utilize the said
materials for teaching and learning
Designing the LMS
for UPOU’s MOOCs
 LMS to be tested for
UPOU MOOCs was
powered by Moodle
 free and open plug-ins
like YouTube
 interaction between and
among the teacher and
learners to facilitate and
to motivate the learners
 automated assessments
to facilitate assessment
for learning
Designing the Assessments
 require learners to engage in contextualized
case analysis
 providing the answer by learner within a
given duration by video capture
 The students’ video recorded responses to
assessment questions are uploaded to
YouTube
MOOCs in Partnership with Industry
initial capital investment
Sustainability
industry recognition of
the Certificate of
Accomplishment;
quality of content
subject matter experts
co-teaching marking
the assessme
more aligned with the
industry for industry
support for
accreditation of these
courses.
Learner Support in the Initial MOOC
offerings
 pre-course enrollment
 while taking the course
 post course completion
 learners undergo a Distance
Education Readiness module (how to
go about distance elearning and
navigate the LMS)

Crediting of Courses our MOOCs on
Business Process Management
 integrated into the tertiary education curriculum
on information technology and management
through a memorandum circular from the
Philippines Commission on Higher Education
(CHED).
 Academic institutions offering these courses can
have their students enrolled in UPOU MOOCs,
get the Certificate of Accomplishment, and
apply for the transfer of equivalent credits
 MOOC completion and the associated learning
--attested by the Certificate of Accomplishment-to differentiate it from the usual Statement of
Accomplishment usually given by MOOC
providers
Sustainability of MOOCs
 certification for a minimal fee to cover the
cost of assessment
 grants and industry support
 work credit for extension/community work
for university personnel
 designed, and delivered its own MOOCs---
involved active search and evaluation of an
appropriate model for its own MOOC.
Referred to as MODeL or Massive Open
Distance eLearning
What lessons can we draw from our
experience in MOOCs?
 open universities can extend their long and
vast experience in open education in
MOOCs. The principles and processes that
determine quality in distance elearning can
also be considered for MOOCs.
 ODL universities can look at MOOCs as part
of its strategies to make education more
accessible to more people.
What lessons can we draw from our
experience in MOOCs?
 partnerships with industry and other institutions--
capital investment required, the recognition of
certification, and the model selected for sustainability
 Pooling of resources can enable various institutions to
spread the risks and costs associated with developing
MOOCs.
 partnerships with other universities. the UPOU along
with Hanoi Open University, Open University of
Malaysia, Sukhothai Thammatirat Open University,
and Universitas Terbuka have partnered together to
co-develop course materials for a master’s degree in
ASEAN studies.
What lessons can we draw from our
experience in MOOCs?
 crediting of courses e
similar to the recent
collaboration of 17
universities exchanging
credits under the
Distributed Online
Collaborative Courses
(DOCC)
 -- a mode which can be
done among OU5 for
ASEAN studies or any other
group of universities within
a regional bloc.
What lessons can we draw from our
experience in MOOCs?
 National open universities need not target
the same set of leaners being targeted by
conventional universities
 UPOU, a substantial portion of our MOOCs
learners is overseas Filipinos. In an
increasingly globalized world -MOOCs can
be means for universities to continue serving
the needs of its citizens who are based
abroad.
What lessons can we draw from our
experience in MOOCs?
 scholars, researchers and teachers of developing
countries– need to proliferate the web with their own
stories, narratives, perspectives, experiences, solutions to
problems and thicken the discourse in areas that they feel
they are good at and to foreground the richness of
cultural diversity. Then there can be true sharing and
collaboration with other universities and institutions all over
the world.
 academic institutions and governmental agencies can
maximize the potential MOOCs to genuinely serve
lifelong learners and effect the overall development of all
countries and its peoples.


 MOOC offers an
opportunity for open
access to education
skepticism about
MOOCs role in open
learning and distance
education
many issues and
concerns in MOOC
deployment in its
current format

the continuous
acquisition of knowledge
and skills by an
increasingly mobile
populace.
 the communities of
learners we serve are
diverse
 develop our respective
versions and models of
MOOCs.
It brings our University closer to an integrative
implementation of our mandates of Teaching,
Research, and Public Service. Where lines between
and amongst these concepts blur. However, what is
clear is that we may take different paths towards
MOOCs but I know that we would always be guided
by the same passion that brought our institutions into
being – openness, access, equity, and excellence.
 Thank you.