EMMA preparing for new MOOC round in autumn
 

EMMA Summer School participant experience
 

by Donatella Persico, Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche - Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche, Italy

At the beginning of this year I co-authored a paper on methodologies for MOOC research¹. It is a survey aiming to understand where we are with research in this field, and to identify strengths and weaknesses of the work carried out so far. Participating in the EMMA Summer School gave me the possibility to update and complement this picture with state-of-art knowledge on MOOC practice, especially as far as instructional design principles, translation services and learning analytics are concerned. I did learn a lot from this experience as the event quickly succeeded in creating a community of practice including people actively involved in MOOC research and practice, from several points of views. Undoubtedly, the good organisation and the wonderful framework of the island of Ischia, which made the whole experience unforgettable, have contributed to this result.

Among the main messages I have taken back from the Summer School, I would like to list the following:

• The EMMA project has several strengths, among which: a sustainable vision for its future; a pragmatic and effective approach to overcome linguistic barriers, and a highly flexible view on pedagogical approaches, which is made possible by a range of functions made available by the EMMA platform;
   
• Technologies for overcoming linguistic barriers are mature enough to make international learning experiences a reality, with no need to privilege one language at the expenses of the others;
   
• Effective use of Learning Analytics is a critical factor both to support learning in MOOCs and to provide research with the necessary evidence; however, much work in this area is still needed and this makes it a priority in research and development; 
   
• User Centered Design cannot be straightforwardly applied in MOOC design: MOOC designers have to cope with large and very diversified audiences comprising unexpected profiles. This entails the need for flexible, personalisable designs, rather than one-size fits all approaches.

Now, after this interesting experience (and a good, refreshing holiday), I feel compelled to put into practice what I have learnt. Perhaps another positive effect of the EMMA Summer School? I’d be interested in bringing forward the idea of a MOOC on digital scholarship, presented during the Summer School. Wish me good luck! 

¹ Raffaghelli, J. E., Cucchiara, S. and Persico, D. (2015), Methodological approaches in MOOC research: Retracing the myth of Proteus. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46: 488&n;font-style:normal;dash;509. doi: 10.1111/bjet.12279

How big data is managed in EMMA  

We collect different data about our participants when they are using the EMMA platform by asking them to complete a survey, by gathering the personal information they provide in their profiles and by collating data about how they use the platform as part of their learning activities referred to as learning analytics data.

We track data about their visits to different pages and the amount of time they spend on different types of digital content. We also track data about their contributions to the MOOC in the form of blogposts, comments and discussion inputs. Their performance related to assignments and quizzes is also monitored and measured by us. And finally we are interested in the multilingual EMMA approach and so also study in which way MOOC participants use the different language options available in the platform.

We use this information to personalise the platform for participants and MOOC facilitators by developing dashboards for different parties. This information is also being used to enhance pedagogical intervention and to improve the design of MOOCs in the future.

We care about the confidentiality and security of users’ personal information in EMMA. No personal data is being shown to other participants. General visualisations shown to other learners is based on aggregated data. EMMA will take precautions to ensure data is anonymised, stored securely and safely and can’t be accessed by third parties. No data will be knowingly made available to other people outside the project. Data for evaluation purposes will only be made available to those researchers of the EMMA project that are responsible for the evaluation.