- C. Rosé. 2017. Envisioning support of social learning in MOOCs. Abstract: The explosive growth of MOOCs has generated immense interest in online learning in massive courses. However, much of this frenetic activity has emphasized technology and scalability (Reich, 2015), resulting in rudimentary learning experiences (i.e., brief streaming videos followed by quizzes or online discussion forums). This symposium will showcase and discuss four diverse efforts to advance open learning at scale that are directly informed by contemporary theories of learning and educational research methods. This includes research on inquiry-based community learning, computer-mediated discourse analysis, participatory approaches to learning and assessment, and evidence-rich digital-credentials. In each of the four cases, the desire to extend that program of research to learning at scale resulted in significant advances in the more general program of research. In this way the symposium explores efforts to foster learning at scale might advance our theories of learning and our principles and methods for learning design more generally.
