Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Surfacing Collective Intelligence with Implications for Interface Design in Massive Open Online Courses

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Social Collective Intelligence

Part of the book series: Computational Social Sciences ((CSS))

Abstract

The massive open online course (MOOC) has gained significant popularity in the last few years, garnering enrolment rates usually in the order of tens of thousands of teenagers and adults [16].With so many people congregating online to learn, harnessing the enrolled learners’ social collective intelligence (SCI) becomes a very real possibility. Moreover, the sorts of learner-leaner and learner-platform interactions needed to realise the MOOC as an SCI platform align strongly with educational paradigms such as constructivism [9];lending a pedagogical plausibility to using MOOCs in this way. Our study aims to capture how learners actively make the learning content within a MOOC relevant to their personal concerns. An analysis of 670 qualitative responses to an open-ended question in a live MOOC titled ‘Internet History, Technology, and Security’ [6]provides some understanding of the ‘relational work’. This helps us conceive of MOOC interface designs which simultaneously support SCI. With few theories existing which concern SCI and MOOCs, our empirical study is timely.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Balch, T.: About MOOC Completion Rates: The Importance of Student Investment (2013). URL http://augmentedtrader.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/about-mooc-completion-rates-the-importance-of-investment/?goback=.gde_3724233_member_203726319

  2. Bates, T.: What’s right and what’s wrong about Coursera-style MOOCs (2012). URL http://www.tonybates.ca/2012/08/05/whats-right-and-whats-wrong-about-coursera-style-moocs/

  3. BBC: Profile: Edward Snowden (2013). URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22837100

  4. Blumer, H.: What is wrong with social theory? Am. Socio. Rev. 18, 3–10 (1954)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Boyatzis, R.E.: Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Analysis and Code Development. SAGE, London (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Coursera. Internet History, Technology, and Security. URL http://www.coursera.org/course/insidetheinternet

  7. Deterding, S., Dixon, D., Khaled, R., Nacke, L.: From game design elements to gamefulness: defining gamification. In: Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments, pp. 9–15. ACM, New York (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Downes, S.: MOOC and Mookies: The Connectivism & Connective Knowledge Online Course (2008). URL http://www.slideshare.net/Downes/mooc-and-mookiesthe-connectivism-connective-knowledge-online-course-presentation

  9. Duffy, T., Jonassen, D.: Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  10. ECampus: Top 10 reasons for low MOOC completion rates (2013). URL http://www.ecampusnews.com/top-news/top-10-reasons-for-low-mooc-completion-rates/?

  11. Field, J.: Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order. Trentham Books, Stoke on Trent (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Fildes, J.: What is Wikileaks? (2010). URL http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10757263

  13. Garfinkel, H.: Studies in Ethnomethodology. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Goffman, E.: Frame Analysis. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hoffman, D.: The Interface Theory of Perception. In: Object Categorization: Computer and Human Vision Perspectives by Ven Dickenson, Michael Tarr, Ales Leonardis, and Bernt Schiele. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Jordan, K.: MOOC Completion Rates: The Data (2013). URL http://www.katyjordan.com/MOOCproject.html

  17. Kaplowitz, M.D., Hadlock, T.D., Levine, R.: A comparison of web and mail survey response rates. Publ. Opin. Q. 68.1, 94–101 (2004). URL http://www.uwyo.edu/studentaff/_files/docs/survey_calendar/kaplovitz_hadlock_levine_a_comparison_of_web_and_mail_survey_reponse_rates.pdf

  18. Kizilcec, R.F., Piech, C., Schneider, E.: Deconstructing disengagement: analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses. In: Proceedings of 3rd Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge. Leuven, Belgium (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Knewton: Flipped Classroom—The Flipped Classroom Infographic (2014). URL http://www.knewton.com/flipped-classroom/

  20. Kolowich, S.: Who Takes MOOCs? (2012). URL http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/05/early-demographic-data-hints-what-type-student-takes-mooc

  21. Kolowich, S.: Why Some Colleges Are Saying No to MOOC Deals, at Least for Now (2013). URL http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/138863/

  22. Lublin, J.: Deep, surface and strategic approaches to learning. Tech. rep., UCD Dublin (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Moe, R.: MOOC or xMOOC? URL https://allmoocs.wordpress.com/2013/06/09/mooc-or-xmooc/#more-443

  24. Morris, S.M.: Making Composition Massive: a #digped Discussion (2013). URL http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/Journal/files/Making_Composition_Massive.html

  25. Petchenik, J., Watermolen, D.J.: A cautionary note on using the Internet to survey recent hunter education graduates. Hum. Dimens. Wildl. 16(3), 216–218 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Round, C.: The Best MOOC Provider: A Review of Coursera, Udacity and Edx (2013). URL http://www.skilledup.com/blog/the-best-mooc-provider-a-review-of-coursera-udacity-and-edx/

  27. Shirky, C.: Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. Penguin Press, London (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Social-IST: High Impact Application Areas in Social Collective Intelligence (2013). URL http://social-ist.eu/high-impact-application-areas/

  29. Spaniel, W.: Can We Stop Caring about MOOC Completion Rates? (2013). URL http://wjspaniel.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/can-we-stop-caring-about-mooc-completion-rates/

  30. Stanton, J.M.: An empirical assessment of data collection using the Internet. Person. Psychol. 51(3), 709–725 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J.M.: Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. SAGE Publications, Newbury Park (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Suchman, L.: Plans and Situated Action: The Problem of Human-Machine Communication. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Surowiecki, J.: The Wisdom of Crowds. Random House Digital, New York (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Thompson, L.F., Surface, E.A., Martin, D.L., Sanders, M.G.: From paper to pixels: Moving personnel surveys to the Web. Person. Psychol. 56(1), 197–227 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Wang, Y.: On abstract intelligence: Toward a unifying theory of natural, artificial, machinable, and computational intelligence. Int. J. Software Sci. Comput. Intell. 1(1), 1–17 (2009)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  36. Watson, J.B.: Behaviorism. W W Norton & Co., New York (1930)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Wright, K.B.: Researching internet-based populations: advantages and disadvantages of online survey research, online questionnaire authoring software packages, and web survey services. J. Comput. Mediat. Comm. 10(3) (2005). URL http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/wright.html

  38. Yager, R.E.: The constructivist learning model. Sci. Teach. 58(6), 52–57 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anna Zawilska, Marina Jirotka & Mark Hartswood

Authors
  1. Anna Zawilska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marina Jirotka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mark Hartswood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anna Zawilska .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CREATE-NET, Trento, Italy

    Daniele Miorandi

  2. University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Vincenzo Maltese

  3. School of Informatics Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Michael Rovatsos

  4. Faculty EEMCS, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Anton Nijholt

  5. The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    James Stewart

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Zawilska, A., Jirotka, M., Hartswood, M. (2014). Surfacing Collective Intelligence with Implications for Interface Design in Massive Open Online Courses. In: Miorandi, D., Maltese, V., Rovatsos, M., Nijholt, A., Stewart, J. (eds) Social Collective Intelligence. Computational Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08681-1_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08681-1_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08680-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08681-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation