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=myWikiSpace for E-Learning and Digital Cultures=

Reflections on a Coursera MOOC from the University of Edinburgh
Course Goal - to create a digital artifact which expresses something important about one or more of the themes covered during the course.

I was quite intrigued with Shirky's article and the metaphor of the mp3 file to the mooc; "Higher education is now being disrupted; our MP3 is the massive open online course (or MOOC), and our Napster is Udacity, the education startup." (1) The response from academia as illustrated by rebuttals to Shirky's article as well as other material that we have been directed to is quite interesting. There seems to be much confusion and even some denial about how technology is likely to change the way we see education delivered in the coming years. There are several other themes that have me thinking about the future of technology in education:
 * the notion of learning versus "academics"
 * the idea of digital natives versus digital immigrants; the differences in adoption and acceptance of new online educational experiences
 * trial and error approaches to mooc design versus a researched approach based on pedagogy and experience
 * the quality of instruction and learning available in a mooc offering versus a traditional face-to-face, blended or online credit course with a smaller class size
 * the cost of traditional classroom-based instruction versus the cost efficiencies and convenience of online learning opportunities

I felt that I needed to incorporate something more than just text and images in my digital artifact, so I opted for a wiki space and a short movie that allowed me to express some of my thoughts, and present insights from others. This was an interesting exercise, as It also encouraged me to see how I could share my movie with an online audience.

media type="youtube" key="wsxr5r99fmk" height="360" width="480"


 * References:**
 * (1) Shirky, C. (2012).** Napster, Udacity and the academy. shirky.com, 12 November 2012. **http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2012/11/napster-udacity-and-the-academy/ **
 * Campbell, Gardner (2012).** Ecologies of Yearning. Keynote at Open Ed '12, October 16, 2012, Vancouver BC.
 * Carr, N. (2012).** The Crisis in Higher Education. MIT Technology Review, @http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/429376/the-crisis-in-higher-education/
 * Bates, T. (2013).** Harvard's current thinking on MOOCs. @http://www.tonybates.ca/2013/02/14/harvards-current-thinking-on-moocs/

Music Credit (youtube video); Love on a Real Train by Tangerine Dream (1985)