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MAR 18

MOOCs and Libraries:
Massive Opportunity or Overwhelming Challenge?

This meeting featured thoughtful and provocative presentations about how libraries are already getting involved with MOOCs, and engaged attendees in discussions about strategic opportunities and challenges going forward. Tweet: #mooclib

This event has passed.

MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, have become all the rage, with numerous institutions joining forces with Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, and other providers. The Babson Survey Research Group recently found that although 55 percent of institutions said they were undecided about their plans for offering MOOCs, 9.4 percent said they were in the planning stages of offering one, and 2.6 percent have already taken the plunge;  the same survey showed the number of students taking at least one course online has reached an all-time high of 32 percent.

In this event, OCLC Research and the University of Pennsylvania Libraries presented thoughtful and provocative presentations about how libraries are already getting involved with MOOCs. In-person and remote attendees learned from the pioneers how library content and services can be represented in these new learning environments, and about opportunities for new discussions with partners in supporting learning on campus.

For more information, contact Merrilee Proffitt.

This entire event was streamed live on the web. The webcast recordings are available from the MOOCs and Libraries video playlist on the OCLC Research YouTube Channel. You'll also find links to the videos and presenters' slides throughout the agenda below. In addition, you can view the next steps document (.pdf: 124K/1 pp.) and the archived Tweets (pdf: 639K/32 pp.) from this event. Look to the OCLC Research blog, HangingTogether, for a short series of postings that recap presentation highlights and summarize outcomes from this event.

Agenda

Monday, 18 March: MOOCs and Libraries, Day 1

Time Session
1:00-2:00 p.m. Opening & Welcomes
2:00-3:00 p.m. Copyright, Licensing, Open Access
As courses are being offered online to a diverse and geographically distributed audience, what are the challenges for licensing and clearing copyright for materials used in courses? Are there opportunities for advancing the conversation on open access with faculty?
  • Brandon Butler, Director of Public Policy Initiatives, Association of Research Libraries, moderator
  • Kevin Smith, Scholarly Communications Officer, Duke University
  • Kenny Crews, Director, Copyright Advisory Office, Columbia University
  • Kyle K. Courtney, Manager of Faculty Research and Scholarship, Harvard Law School

View the video of this Copyright, Licensing, Open Access session (59:39)
3:00-3:30 p.m. Break
3:30-4:45 p.m.

Production & Pedagogy
How libraries and academic support offices contribute to MOOC-related course production options—a view on how technology helps and hinders, and how pedagogy may need to shift in a new environment. What are we learning about teaching, what works, and what doesn't?

View the video of this Production & Pedagogy session (1:16:11)

Download the slides for this session (12.9MB/20 slides)

  • Bruce Lenthall, Director of Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Pennsylvania, moderator
  • Christian Terwiesch, Wharton School Faculty, University of Pennsylvania
  • Jackie Candido, Online Learning & Digital Engagement, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
  • Amy Bennett, Penn Open Learning, University of Pennsylvania
  • Anna Delaney, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
4:45-5:15 p.m. Open Discussion
5:30-7:00 p.m. Reception for Attendees, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library

Tuesday, 19 March: MOOCs and Libraries, Day 2

Time Session
8:00-9:00 a.m. Light Breakfast
9:00-10:00 a.m.

New Opportunities for Librarians: What Happens When You Go Behind the Lines in a MOOC?
As we learn about new platforms and new modes of working, librarians are going into the trenches to see for themselves how MOOCs work. How do library resources and research skills fit into MOOCs and other online learning environments? Where do library collections and service fit? How can we use the experience gained in MOOCs to think about the future of the library in an evolved teaching environment?

View the video of this New Opportunities for Librarians: What Happens When You Go Behind the Lines in a MOOC? session (1:04:11)

Download the slides for this session (4.8MB/21 slides)

  • Marjorie Hassen, Director of Teaching, Research, and Learning Services, University of Pennsylvania Libraries, moderator
  • Sarah Bordac, Head, Instructional Design, Brown University
  • Jennifer Dorner, Head, Instruction and User Services, University of California Berkeley
  • Lynne O'Brien, Director of Academic Technology and Instructional Services, Duke University
10:00-10:15 a.m. Break
10:15-11:15 a.m. Who Are the Masses? A View of the Audience
MOOCs are drawing thousands and even hundreds of thousands of attendees. What do we know about these learners? What might we discover? How might we change as a result?
11:15 a.m.-noon

Summary, Next Steps and Group Discussion

Start Date

18 March 2013

End Date

18 March 2013

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