MOOCs and Libraries

Metaliteracy MOOC

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 21:46:00 +0000

This Metaliteracy MOOC explores the metaliteracy model originally developed by Tom Mackey and Trudi Jacobson in Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy. This open learning experience turns theory into practice by exploring emerging technologies to collectively create and distribute information in an open participatory environment. We will interact with global participants and continuously reflect on our learning in this environment. This MOOC has been developed for course sharing between the University at Albany and Empire State College, at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and to engage with participants globally. It is also available to use in any way you find helpful or supportive in your own teaching, research, and/or learning journey. This is an open and flexible space that situates participants at the center of all learning activities. We hope to provide a meta perspective on the process of teaching and learning with the connectivist MOOC format.

[more]

Source and Links Available At

[http://metaliteracy.cdlprojects.com/]

Keeping Up With... MOOCs

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 16:51:00 +0000

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane is Extension and ILL Librarian at Brandon University

What are MOOCs?

MOOCs are Massive Open Online Courses that enroll anyone wishing to attend for free. Early MOOCs, which emerged out of the OER movement, are known as Connectivist MOOCs [aka cMOOCs] and emphasize both active student learning and knowledge creation using a wide range of tools that are (1) shared with fellow students and (2) openly licensed for use and adaption [i.e. community-generated OERs]. The more widely known MOOCs, xMOOCs, rely on video lectures by professors, some student interaction, and online educational tools. These register students in the tens of thousands and some have numbered as many as 160,000 in a class – making it impossible to provide professorial support. None provide access to institutional library collections. They are very expensive to produce and funded by investors or major institutions. Despite their name, xMOOCs are not open educational resources.

There are many reasons why librarians need to fully understand MOOCs:

Academic libraries are committed to serving students enrolled in distance education courses and MOOCs are raising questions around how services and collections could be provided to students in this transformational medium – as well as how to use MOOCs to assess online services.
xMOOCs pose important intellectual property issues for higher education.
xMOOCs may serve as a disruptive innovation - leading to questions about their impact not only on teaching, but also on research.
As we come to fully understand MOOCs – including where they intersect with, or are contrary to, established library values – they pose important questions about the role libraries can and should play in the area of Open Education: particularly as it refers to their role as facilitators of their effectiveness and sustainability.

Key Issues

> Intellectual Property Issues around Openness and Ownership of Property

[snip]

> xMOOCs and Library Services

[snip]

> Effectiveness and Sustainability

[snip]

> Big Data and Libraries

> Conclusion

No one is sure about the impact that MOOCs will have on higher education and we will not know for some time to come. Issues around effectiveness and usefulness will determine whether funding continues to flow to them. What is not uncertain is the emergence of Open Education - and the need for libraries to address how they fit into this world based upon their support for openness, access to quality information for all, lifelong learning and support for teaching and learning.

> Recommended Readings

Source and Full Text Available At:

[http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping_up_with/moocs]

Open Sesame: Open Educational Resources and Open Textbooks for Massive Open Online Courses

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 20:38:00 +0000

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gerrymck/ERL14.ppt

MOOCs for LIS Professional Development: Exploring New Transformative Learning Environments and Roles

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 00:36:00 +0000

[snip]

Launched in September 2013, the Hyperlinked Library MOOC pilot (#hyperlibMOOC) provides a sandbox in which LIS professionals and students can play the roles of learner, connector, and collaborator in a self-directed yet social learning experience. Results from the pilot course will contribute to a better understanding of how the not-for-credit MOOC can serve as a transformative environment for professional development.

Source and Full Text Available At:

[http://www.ipsonet.org/images/Westphalia_Press/Internet_Learning_Journal_2-2/5.%20Stephens%20-%20MOOCS%20for%20LIS%20Professional%20Development.pdf]

Embedded Librarians: Building Relationships in Massively Open Educational System

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 23:01:00 +0000

[http://www.slideshare.net/davidshumaker/librarians-andmoo-csamigos7nov2013slideshare]

A New Polemic: Libraries, MOOCs, and the Pedagogical Landscape

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:53:00 +0000

In Brief: The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) has emerged in the past few years as the poster child of the online higher education revolution. Lauded and derided, MOOCs (depending on who you ask) represent the democratization of education on a global scale, an overblown trend, or the beginning of the end of the traditional academic institution. MOOCs have gained so much critical traction because they have succeeded in unmooring educational exchanges and setting them adrift in the sea of the internet. Although the MOOC is a new and evolving platform, it has already upended facets of education in which librarians are heavily invested including intellectual property, digital preservation, and information delivery and curricular support models. Consequently, to examine the MOOC as a microcosm is also to explore how the scope of academic librarianship is changing and will continue to change. Librarians and information professionals—who serve as bibliographers, purchasing managers, access advocates, copyright and preservation experts, and digital pioneers on many campuses—are uniquely situated to mediate this disruption and to use this opportunity to develop strategies for navigating an environment in flux.

Source and Full Text Available At:

[http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2013/a-new-polemic-libraries-moocs-and-the-pedagogical-landscape/]

MOOCs Are A Massive Opportunity for Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:38:00 +0000

[http://www.slideshare.net/CharlestonConference/mooc-panel-meredith-schwartz-library-journal]

PCI Webinars - Emerging Technologies in Libraries Part 3: MOOCs

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:37:00 +0000

[http://www.slideshare.net/samchada/moo-cs-25514770]

A MOOL in a MOOC: Librarians in Massive Open Online Courses

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 21:40:00 +0000

Source and Link Available At:

[http://www.slideshare.net/poetbrarian/a-mool-in-a-mooc]

"MOOL" In A MOOC ...

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 21:05:00 +0000

The discussion around, and analysis of, massive open online courses (or MOOCs) continues to grow and develop. Educators unfamiliar with MOOCs, their hosts, structures, benefits, and challenges will find this article helpful for gaining understanding of this on-trend form of distance learning and course delivery. Furthermore, the author proposes that the potential for librarianship within MOOCs should also be considered. Much of the relevant literature from the fields of education, librarianship, information science, and academia at large, reviewed here, have not delved too deeply into the concept of librarianship within this setting (yet). In an effort to discover MOOC faculty opinions, challenges, and incentives for MOOC creation and participation, as well as their thoughts on librarians in MOOCs, the author developed a survey. This survey aimed to assess: (1) the costs and benefits experienced by faculty teaching MOOCs; (2) perceived/anticipated student and learning environment successfulness within MOOCs; and (3) the extent faculty engage with their institution’s librarians. Additionally, the survey approached MOOC faculty regarding whether they envision a future for librarians within MOOCs and what that future might look like. This article closes with discussion on survey findings, suggestions for future research, hypotheses regarding the future of MOOCs, and opportunities for a “MOOL” in a MOOC.

Keywords: MOOCs; massive open online courses; nontraditional education programs; open source education programs; online learning; distance learning; information literacy; media literacy; instructional technologies; higher education; e-learning; librarianship; copyright; open access.

Source and Full Text Available At:

[http://www.ipsonet.org/images/Westphalia_Press/Internet_Learning_Journal_2-2/4.Cantwell-22MOOL22_in_a_MOOC.pdf]

ACRL White Paper > Environmental Scan of OERs, MOOCs, and Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 17:36:00 +0000

What Effectiveness and Sustainability Means for Libraries’ Impact on Open Education

Carmen Kazakoff-Lane / Extension Librarian / Brandon University John E. Robbins Library / Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

In 2009, librarians started waking up to an emerging open education movement. It began in earnest with a 2009 ACRL / SPARC forum at an ALA Midwinter Meeting, where advocates for Open Educational Resources (OERs) spoke about OERs and the roles libraries could play in supporting them (SPARC & ACRL, 2009). It was further advanced as an important professional issue with the emergence into popular consciousness of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in 2011. Thus, in the last few years, open education has become an important topic in the professional literature, with discussions around library support largely focused on the phenomenonof MOOCs.

Libraries can and should support open education. It fits with librarians’ professional support for access to information as a public good, the institutional mandate of academic libraries to support teaching and research, and the professional obligations of librarians in public libraries to support continuing education. But before libraries do so, it is useful to understand the open education movement as a whole, including some of the key challenges facing both OERs and MOOCs and how libraries are well positioned to help address these challenges. By taking a holistic approach, libraries can aid the movement to facilitate universal, affordable, quality education for the peoples of the world and ensure that institutions, faculty, funding agencies, and governments avoid pathways to open education that might prove detrimental to scholarship as well as to society as a whole.

Source and Full Text Available At

[http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/whitepapers/Environmental%20Scan%20and%20Assessment.pdf]

ALCTS Webinar Series: Libraries and MOOCs > February 20014 > June 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 16:51:00 +0000

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are sweeping the country and libraries and librarians are watching this development carefully. This series of four webinars will help librarians gain an understanding of the complexity of the MOOC movement, learn how to support students and faculty engaged with MOOCs, become familiar with the copyright and intellectual property requirements in relation to MOOCs, and hear what the future may hold for MOOCs.

February 26, 2014. Dorothy Pawlowski will discuss opportunities for public libraries to promote lifelong learning by becoming meet-up destinations for MOOCs.
March 26, 2014. Curtis L. Kendrick and Irene Gashurov will look at how librarians can shape the conversation about changes created by MOOCs.
May 21, 2014. Rebecca Griffith will look at new research on opportunities and challenges associated with using third-party MOOCs in campus-based services.
June 4, 2014. Sarah Bardac will look at the roles, opportunities, and pitfalls of MOOCs.

[snip]

Who Should Attend?

Librarians, library administrators, and library educators interested in supporting and enhancing libraries’ preparation of and participation in MOOCs.

Presenters

Dorothy Pawlowski is Adult Services Librarian at the Ridgefield (Connecticut) Library
Curtis L. Kendrick is University Dean for Libraries and Information Resources, and Irene Gashurov is communications writer for the Office of Library Services, City University of New York (CUNY).
Rebecca Griffith leads the program in Online Learning for Ithaka S+R.
Sarah Bordac is the Head of Instructional Design at Brown University

Dates & Time (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM) (ET)

Sessions will be held on Wednesdays:

February 26, 2014
March 26, 2014
May 21, 2014
June 4, 2014

Source and Registration Links Available At:

[http://www.ala.org/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webinar/moocs]

ALA > MW > 2014 > OCLC Enhance Sharing Session> January 25 2014 > 10:30 AM - Noon

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 01:35:00 +0000

Location:

Pennsylvania Convention Center / 104 B

Description:

The importance, accessibility and cost of education is on the minds of everyone today--administrators, faculty, librarians, politicians and parents. In this environment, MOOCs seem to offer a lifeline to schools and communities seeking to reinvent education and lifelong learning in the Internet Age. But the conversation about MOOCs is complex and evolving. New partnerships are being formed to deliver tools and curriculum. New business models are emerging. Questions about accreditation and measurement abound. Do MOOCs represent a sea-change for both public and academic libraries? Or just a new twist on distance learning? Join OCLC at the ALA Midwinter symposium for a lively debate among MOOC practitioners, promoters… and skeptics.

Source:

[http://alamw14.ala.org/node/12942]

ALA > MW > AASL > 2014 > Is There a MOOC in Your Future? > January 26 2014 > 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 00:14:00 +0000

Location:

Pennsylvania Convention Center / 102 A

Description:

MOOCs, Massive Online Open Courses, are often offered free or nominal cost and allow hundred, even thousands, of students easy access to lectures from faculty without registering with the university. What do these mean for the future of education and what should the role of librarians/library educators be in their implementation? A panel and discussion about the many issues surrounding MOOCs in terms of librarian’s support for patrons, support for implementation of MOOCs through resources, technology, and local support groups, the possibilities for offering our content through a MOOC, and opportunities for our own continuing education.

Source:

[http://alamw14.ala.org/node/13061]

Librarians and the Era of the MOOC

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 23:52:00 +0000

[snip]

The questions librarians should be thinking about is in what ways can we leverage our skills and build tools to fit the values of personalization, “big data” modeling and analysis, as well as peer socialization and networking for the MOOC environment? Would an embedded librarian work in the future for the commercial MOOC vendor or would this be part of an Emerging Technologies Librarian’s duties at a participating university? Would libraries actually benefit financially from MOOCs when considering the added costs for access to consortial databases with copyrighted material, or would library administration need to make yet more cuts to their budget elsewhere to make room for MOOCs? Price and copyright negations with vendors are another consideration. Libraries are often charged by the number of enrolled students, how would that work if they suddenly had hundreds of thousands of students paying for a single course credit? How willing and what system will scientific journals use, for example, to allow copyright use for a selection of individual articles for a course reserve list?

[more]

[http://www.scilogs.com/scientific_and_medical_libraries/librarians-and-the-era-of-the-mooc/]

Libraries, MOOCs and Online Learning > 19 March 2014 > 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 22:24:00 +0000

ALIA, CAUL, OCLC and the State Library of QLD present this event bringing together library stakeholders in the online learning space to talk about:

MOOCs (the trends in remote course delivery to large cohorts of students);
the issues for libraries (collections, copyright, information, literacy, citation styles, research, staff skills),
how academic libraries can support online learning;
how other libraries - public, state/territory, TAFE, school are getting involved and
the opportunities for advocacy.

State Library of Queensland / Stanley Pl, South Brisbane /

Source and Registration Available At:

[http://www.alia.org.au/events/2348/libraries-moocs-and-online-learning]

FREE Canvas MOOC > Teaching Library Research Strategies > January 27 2014 - March 2 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Tue, 17 Dec 2013 19:46:00 +0000

The migration of print resources to electronic formats has changed how instructional librarians teach students how to use the library effectively. The library has also changed to learning spaces and zones with less space for print resources. In this course, an experienced academic librarian will share his techniques and strategies for getting students engaged in the art of library research. A balanced approach to information literacy instruction including games, active learning, and using media literacy to get students enjoying their time in the library will be explored.

Source and Enrollment Link Available At:

[ttps://www.canvas.net/courses/teaching-library-research-strategies]

Modules:

Module 1: Teaching Library Research Strategies - Overview, what to expect, all about Canvas

Module 2: Understanding Information Literacy - A resourceful module on how to teach students about information literacy in the context of their world

Module 3: Knowing your Audience - Tips and strategies on how you can "get" connected with all students, learn who they are, be proactive and get to know them

Module 4: Designing Engaging Learning Experiences - Understanding the basics of instructional design, plan, plan, plan

Module 5: Developing your Style - Creating a teaching style that fits you! Get in front of that mirror or empty classroom and teach

Module 6: Creating Your List of Strategies - Creating your own theme to get students engaged. Answer the question: what is on your list?
Source Keith Rocci, M. Ed, Instructor

[https://www.canvas.net/courses/teaching-library-research-strategies#]

Abstract Only > Who's in the MOOD for M.O.O.C.s ? > Library 2.013 > October 18 - 19 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 15:32:00 +0000

Your Name and Title:

Ana Guthrie, Reference & Instruction Librarian

Library, School, or Organization Name:

Nathan W. Collier Library, Florida Memorial University

[snip]

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:
Miami, Florida, USA

Language in Which You Will Present:

English

Target Audience(s):

Academic Librarian

[snip]

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

It is hard to imagine that academia would take seriously anything dubbed “MOOC.” Yet, the Massive Open Online Course (hereafter "MOOC") movement is repositioning how college instructors and students alike conceptualize learning. MOOCs are loosely characterized as online, tuition-free university courses made up of students spanning all backgrounds and locales who connect to learn a central topic. Essentially, MOOCs are available to anyone, anywhere; they are refashioning how we approach college instruction and delivery. Though the development of MOOCs is an important milestone for global higher education, the movement has been met with controversy. Much has been written on whether the MOOC is a teaching pandemonium versus an educational breakthrough. This presentation will define the MOOC movement and discuss its implications for academic libraries.

[http://www.library20.com/forum/topics/who-s-in-the-mood-for-m-o-o-c-s]

[No Known A/V Available] [12-14-13]

A/V Now Available > Librarians’ Role in Supporting MOOCs > Library 2.013 > October 18 - 19 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 15:18:00 +0000

B.Vijayalakshmi - Sri Sarada College for Women, Tirunelveli, India

[http://bit.ly/1c3daV9]

A/V Now Available > MOOCs and Constructivist Information Literacy > Library 2.013 > October 18 - 19 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 23:49:00 +0000

Dr. Valerie Hill, Ilene Frank, and Michelle Keba -

Texas Woman's University School of Library and Information Studies, TX, USA

[http://bit.ly/19JvAVd]

LJ > Opening Up | Next Steps for MOOCs and Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 22:31:00 +0000

Since the term was coined five years ago, massive open online courses, or MOOCs, have been a subject of much debate in educational circles. In their brief life span, the courses, in which up to many thousands of students can participate, have demonstrated the promise of new technology to democratize education by some and been declared failed experiments by others. MOOC professors, though, say that it’s too early to judge how MOOCs perform, and that after just a few years, even those in the know are still figuring out what MOOCs really are and what shape—or shapes—they’ll take in the future. Whatever MOOCs look like going forward, though, libraries—in the academic and public sphere alike—will play a key role in helping to determine their design and success. In just the few months since we looked in LJ at the MOOC environment (“Massive Open Opportunity,” LJ 5/1/13), the quickly moving field has evolved significantly.

MOOCs in the Public Library

Among the biggest contributions libraries can make to the MOOC ecosystem is also one of the simplest—they can provide the Internet connection and resource access that students need to succeed in a MOOC. Chicago Public Library (CPL), where public libraries are looking for ways to increase their worth to the local learning environment by bringing more, tech librarian Michelle Frisque points out that for MOOC students who may have limited access to the Internet at home, public library resources make online learning a viable option. “We are the biggest provider of public technology and wireless access,” says Frisque. “And we have the resources people can use to do the homework in these courses.”

[more]

Making Their Own MOOCs

Some library systems, such as the New York Public Library (NYPL), have dipped their toes into creating original MOOC content, like the Sinology 101 MOOC developed for NYPL by former reference librarian Raymond Pun (a 2012 LJ Mover & Shaker). NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman building houses a huge collection of research and scholarship on the history of China, one that Pun wanted to see promoted more effectively to lifelong learners. Presenting at LJ’s The Digital Shift virtual event on October 16, Pun said that he created the Sinology 101 MOOC as a way to “create a bridge between the program and the collection.”

[more]

Learning from Library MOOCs

David Lankes, a professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies (SU iSchool), NY, helped to develop and teach a MOOC titled New Librarianship Master Class. As an experiment in learning how MOOCs could supplement or even replace standard online courses, Lankes’s course was split into two sections. Students could take the MOOC more casually, on their own schedule and at their own pace, viewing lectures and completing assignments as suited them from materials that are still available online. But Lankes and his colleagues also offered students the option to take the course for academic credit at Syracuse through a so-called “guided” section of the class that took place this past summer.

[more]

Making MOOCs Meaningful

According to Philipp Schmidt, the cofounder of online education platform Peer 2 Peer University, that sort of learning may be where MOOCs can make the most impact—by helping people learn from one another in a connected environment without worrying about whether that learning is officially recognized by universities. That recognition, Schmidt says, can actually get in the way of education. “Accreditation is the single biggest obstacle to real learning,” Schmidt says. “There’s this idea that learning is only important to get college credit and college degrees. A lot of learning happens after you leave school, by working with other people and starting projects.” Whether accreditation is good or bad, though, experiments in offering credit for MOOC participation are just beginning and are unlikely to scale up soon. And without that boost to the perceived validity of the education they provide, it’s going to be hard for MOOCs to live up to the promise of leveling the playing field for higher education. In the meantime, that may leave scholars and academic libraries in the facilitator role Todd is trying to introduce in Los Angeles County.

Source and Full Text Available At:

[http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/12/digital-content/opening-up/]

Free > The Hype and Hope of MOOCs > OCLC Americas Member Meeting and Symposium > ALA Mid-Winter > January 24 2014 > 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM (ET) > In-person Or Virtual >

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Fri, 13 Dec 2013 01:04:00 +0000

January 24 2014 / 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM (ET)

Description: Accessibility and cost of education is on everyone’s mind—administrators, faculty and librarians politicians and parents. MOOCs seem to offer a lifeline to schools and communities seeking to reinvent education and lifelong learning. But the conversation about MOOCs is complex and evolving. New partnerships are being formed to deliver tools and curriculum. New business models are emerging. Questions about accreditation and measurement abound. Do MOOCs represent a sea change for both public and academic libraries? Or just a new twist on distance learning? Join OCLC at the ALA Midwinter symposium for a debate among MOOC practitioners, promoters and skeptics.

This debate will be moderated by Skip Prichard and the symposium speakers will include:

Bryan Alexander, author of The New Digital Storytelling, an editor of the Horizon Report and a frequent writer/speaker on digital technology in education
Anya Kamenetz, a contributing writer for Fast Company, the Digital/Edu blogger for the Hechinger Report, and author of Generation Debt (2006), DIY U (2010) and the forthcoming The Test (2015)
Ray Schroeder, Professor Emeritus and Associate Vice Chancellor for Online Learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and Director of the Center for Online Leadership and Strategy at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA)
Audrey Watters, a technology journalist and founder of Hack Education
Cathy De Rosa, OCLC Vice President for the Americas and Global Vice President of Marketing

Video Now Available At:

[http://www.infodocket.com/2014/02/24/oclc-releases-video-of-the-hope-and-the-hype-of-moocs-symposium/]

!!! Thanks, Gary Price !!!

Source and Registration Link Available At:

[https://www.oclc.org/events/2014/ARCMeetingSymposium_ALAMW2014.en.html]

C&RL News: The MOOC Syllabus Blues Strategies for MOOCs and Syllabus Materials

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 00:46:00 +0000

Kyle K. Courtney / The MOOC syllabus blues: Strategies for MOOCs and syllabus materials / Coll. res. libr. news / November 2013 / 74: 514-517

In library circles over the past two years, the elephant in the room has been “How will we support Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at our institution?” edX is the not-for-profit organization founded by Harvard and MIT to transform education worldwide by offering MOOCs for free. edX has engaged in a number of partnerships with other educational institutions to offer interesting courses.

Many of the edX classes are offered through these institutions by their faculty, e.g., Harvard faculty teach HarvardX classes, MIT faculty teach MITx classes, etc. One of the distinct challenges to distributing a free, global curriculum online is the varied and unique copyright concerns. After some meetings with the edX teams, we decided that the library can support MOOCs best in two distinct areas: research and copyright.1

Copyright has been front and center in many MOOC classes, and many libraries, mine included, have taken a lead in this area. This is where libraries, scholarly communication offices, and rights clearance departments have been most active with MOOCs. I think this arrives naturally from our patron’s knowledge of the role of libraries and resources. Where do the resources exist? Ask the library. We need articles and journals for courses. Ask the library. We need copies from books. Ask the library. We need digital images for slides. Ask the library.

[snip]

In the End

We never used only one method for helping with the syllabus materials for any HarvardX/edX class. Some were fortunate enough to have public domain readings available on the Internet Archive or Google Books, some had OA versions available, and some publishers granted access with no terms but a simple citation requirement. The answers varied as much as the strategies. However, what I did find was that grappling with the syllabus problems for the HarvardX/edX courses helped drive a particular mission I feel very passionate about: getting the faculty authors to understand the modern, contract, copyright, and license-bounded world we live in today, and how it affects education. Online classes, like MOOCs, will suffer greatly, and will continue to lack the rich and vast resources necessary for true learning if we don’t change the nature of where our scholarship ends up or who has access. These strategies were developed as a means of both solving a problem and educating the faculty authors. An opportunity to educate faculty authors about these access issues arises each time a MOOC is proposed, and a syllabus or reading list is assembled. We need to be there. It is our job as librarians to “spread the gospel” about copyright, OA, and licensing to make future MOOCs a place where the high level of analysis and lecture can be paired with the most interesting and thought-provoking scholarship we have available in the world today.

Source and Full Text Available At::

[http://crln.acrl.org/content/74/10/514.full]

EDUCAUSE Review: Libraries in the Time of MOOCs

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 02:24:00 +0000

MOOCs give librarians new opportunities to help shape the conversation about changes in higher education and to guide administrators, faculty, and students through these changes. To assume this role, librarians must understand the MOOCs landscape. Numerous stakeholders will have an interest in the massive intellectual property that ultimately resides in libraries' owned and licensed digital repositories. Studying and adopting technologies to manage and monitor MOOC usage of library resources will be essential to controlling access and tightening Internet safeguards.

[more]

Source and Full Text Available At

[http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/libraries-time-moocs]\

Thanks to Gary Price !

Canvas Network: Information Literacy for Art and Design Students

noreply@blogger.com (Gerry McKiernan) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 18:23:00 +0000

Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design

October 21, 2013 to November 25, 2013

Cost per enrollment: Free

Full Course Description

The beginning of the 21st century has been called the Information Age because of rapid increases in information and information resources. Information literacy is now a core competency mandated by higher education accreditation associations for almost all U.S. colleges and universities. It goes far beyond simple web searches and equips students with the research skills necessary to find, evaluate, and appropriately use the types of information required for college level research. This course is geared toward college students, especially those majoring in art and design, but will be useful to anyone who wants to become a more effective searcher. Students will explore the “deep web” (information not found through search engines) and experiment with various search strategies and filtering techniques. Students will also be encouraged to explore resources found in local libraries.

Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design

The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design is a non-profit consortium of 43 leading art schools in the US and Canada. AICAD colleges educate more than 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students each year, plus many thousands more in summer and continuing education programs. This collaborative course is an unprecedented collaboration among many librarians from AICAD colleges. Each module is signed by the specific librarians who worked on it. Students in this course are encouraged to become acquainted with a librarian at their college or a nearby public library.

Source and Enrollment Link Available At:

[https://www.canvas.net/courses/information-literacy-for-art-and-design-students]