Quick Tip: 6 Ways to Use MOOCs to Enhance Your Teaching
by Claire Lee
MOOCs, massive open online courses, have been part
of the educational landscape for more than 15 years on platforms such as EdX, Coursera,
and FutureLearn.
MOOCs are free (or low fee) online courses that are open to anyone to join.
Many of these courses are self-paced, although they may have a period that they
are active or accessible to users. Some courses offer certificates for completion,
and some are only available for free for a limited period (e.g.,
FutureLearn).
How can we capitalize on the wealth of knowledge
freely available and use these courses to enhance our teaching? Here are six
ways to use MOOCs for teaching and for professional development—for all English
language teachers at all levels.
1. Take a MOOC for Professional Development
MOOCs are a great way to upskill for a variety of
professions, including teaching. There are many professional development
opportunities for teachers on topics such as teaching
grammar communicatively, critical
thinking skills in EFL settings, and the science
of learning. Some courses may require a fee for a certificate of
completion.
2. Incorporate MOOCs for Flipped Classes
MOOCs can be used with your students in your
classes. If the MOOC is an OER (open educational resource), you can use the
videos and articles from the courses freely. Assign them as homework or as
supplementary learning materials for students. In the flipped classroom model,
you would have students watch videos from a MOOC, then in class implement the
“homework” you might have otherwise assigned. You can take it a step further by
using the content of MOOCs for more creative assignments, such as asking
students to create a video for a MOOC reading or develop a quiz or study guide
for the MOOC’s videos.
3. Use MOOCs to Learn More About Testing
Are your students preparing for English proficiency
exams? There are a variety of MOOCs that help users understand more about these
exams and their components. I’ve taken courses on IELTS to help my students
take the exams. FutureLearn offers courses on IELTS
and EdX offers one on TOEFL.
4. Run a MOOC Camp
MOOC camps are a great way to use an existing
course to teach. MOOC camps are synchronous sessions, either in person or
online, that bring together participants of a MOOC to discuss the content from
the online course and learn together. I’ve run MOOC camps with courses from
OPEN (Online Professional English Network), such as English for Journalism with
a group of Japanese female journalists. Learn more about MOOC camps on OPEN.
5. Use OER MOOCs to Create Your Own Online Course
Did you know that many MOOCs are licensed under
Creative Commons, meaning they can be freely adapted and republished? In
Canvas, you can import content to your own course from their repository of free
content, which they call Canvas Commons (see how to do so here).
You can mix and match different resources from various courses to fit the needs
of the course you are creating and add your own materials. Just remember to
adhere to the requirements of the different types of licenses (learn more about
the different types of Creative Commons licenses here).
6. Have Your Students Translate MOOCs
If your students are at a high enough level of
English, you can have them work together to translate a MOOC into their home or
preferred language. Many MOOCs are looking for volunteers to translate their
video subtitles from English to other languages. Not only will your students be
demonstrating their English skills, they’ll be helping others around the world
access various MOOCs. Have groups be in charge of each module and allow
students to proofread and edit each other’s work.
Professional Development MOOCs for
ELT
Professional Development MOOCs for
All Teachers
-
Making
the Transition to Open: The Easy Way to Create, License, and Share Free Materials,
offered by Scottsdale Community College
-
Learning
to Teach Online, offered by UNSW Sydney
-
The
Science of Learning – What Every Teacher Should Know,
offered by Teachers College, Columbia University
-
Understanding
Classroom Interaction, offered by The University of
Pennsylvania
-
Classroom
Strategies for Inquiry-Based Learning, offered by University of Texas at Austin
-
Education
for All: Disability, Diversity, and Inclusion, offered by
University of Cape Town
Claire Lee
is an English Language Fellow at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. She has taught in
the United States, South Africa, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Her EdM is from
Harvard University.
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