An idea for a CCCCs panel: How about the teachers amongst us who have been MOOC students?

I might have an idea for a proposal for the annual Conference of College Composition and Communication, which will be happening in 2014 in Indianapolis March 19-22.  The theme in the call for proposals (this is a PDF) is “Open | Source(s), Access, Futures,” and it’s right up my alley in a number of different ways. But one of the bulleted prompt/questions is:

How can composition and communication help shift conversations about MOOCs and other kinds of online courses and mobile learning away from market driven fantasies and into pedagogy in the service of a critically engaged democracy?

On the one hand, I am a little leery of proposing something “MOOC-centric” because I think I’ve done enough MOOC writing between this blog and some other things coming out/in the pipeline. And I am sure there will be lots of other panels with titles like “MOOCing Around With the Future:  Open Source(s), Open Access(es).”  On the other hand, MOOCs really are an important topic right now and lord knows I’ve been doing enough writing and thinking about it to have something to say at this conference. And I know I’m not alone on that.

So how about a panel of CCCCs-like people (professors, grad students, non-tenure-track folks of various stripes, etc.) who are in the field in some general sense as a teacher (writing or otherwise) who have taken a MOOC or two as a student and are reporting back on that to this group? I think this might be useful and interesting because I continue to see a lot of articles written from the perspective of people who have (or will) teach in a MOOC environment and a lot of articles written by people who are really just speculating on what MOOCs might be like, but I still haven’t seen that many pieces from students., even when those students aren’t really “students” but more like curious participants.

I’m imagining something more roundtable-like:  that is, rather than 15-20 minute presentations from three people, I think the ideal format for this would be a half-dozen folks offering five to seven minute opening thoughts and then a discussion.

Anyone out there interested in something like this or some other MOOC-like idea?

13 thoughts on “An idea for a CCCCs panel: How about the teachers amongst us who have been MOOC students?”

  1. Steve:
    I would also be interested. i’m a L2 composition teacher at Ohio State, and I’ve participated in a large number of MOOCs since 2008, mostly for personal interest. However, I’m interested in the impact of the large number of international pariticpants, particularly in these new writing classes.

  2. I’d like to participate also. I’m taking another MOOC this summer, mostly because of my less-than-impressed experience with the EDC MOOC. I don’t want to talk about the student experience of MOOCs based on that one alone.

  3. I’d be interested! I’ve taken one Coursera course and am planning to try out at least one more this summer. I’m most interested in the ways students navigate the peer evaluation process when there are thousands of peers involved.

  4. I am now enrolled in the Duke MOOC and would very much like to participate in this dialogue.

    Gail Corso
    Coordinator of Writing
    Professor of English
    Neumann University
    Aston, PA

  5. Definitely interested. I signed up for two MOOCs for professional development.

    One was fantastic (etmooc) and the other was an abomination, and I dropped out as soon as I got the first mega email. (Others on the WPA-List also spoke about this one when it first started, but it seems others also dropped out.)

    I would love to speak about how MOOCs are successful and what tools work well in them. Although the etmooc course has ended, many of us still keep in touch in a variety of formats.

    The term MOOC is broad, so the generalizations we find about them are wrought with falsehoods and logic fallacies.

  6. I would be very interested in participating. I teach comp classes at California State University Northridge, College of the Canyons, and at University of California Santa Barbara. I took one Coursera class on personal finances, and am currently taking Dan Ariely’s “A Beginner’s Guide to Irrational Behavior” also on Coursera. I have a lot to say about it; it’s a great discussion and presentation topic!

  7. oops… posted comment to wrong post…let me try again.

    I like the idea, not that I do conferences, but if I did, I would this one. It also picks up on a particular peeve…so many uninformed opinions from from those who read about moocs but have never taken one. Anyway, I’m sending it out on the twitter stream and think it’s worth a post that also challenges questioners to do their own homework

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