Re: MOOC participation - open door policy and analytics

mark, October 31, 2011

Irene makes a good point about leaving people alone to do what they want to do.

A friend of mine wrote this earlier this week on a list I participate on:

"There was a landmark Supreme Court case in 1986 that upheld Georgia Sodomy laws. In 2003 it was overturned in Lawrence Vs. Texas, another landmark case. In the original case, Bowers v. Hardwick, the dissenting opinion mentioned that the "right to be let alone" is one of the most fundamental of all rights."

I think that if we are serious about autonomy, then we should also respect people's right to be left alone.

I generally have "lurkers" in my classes. They sit in the back or occupy corners. They don't participate with the other students, or do the nasty things listed in the plagiarism nazis' field guide: 'collaborate' or even 'collude' with one another on assignments - good grief!

I respect these students and leave them alone. I'm careful not to hover around them, or to check up on what they're doing. I don't monitor them. They want to be left alone...

When I set up massively open project assignments - go and do something, whatever you want, and do it together or alone - I make a point of giving everyone the option to refuse collaboration, if that's what they want. They are in the room. They are in the class. They are participating.

According to Dave - I think - it goes like this: Orient, Declare, Network, Cluster, Focus. I didn't notice that any deadlines were issued, but he knows best about that.

And, come to think of it, I am orienting now on MOOC. Where are you? Did you declare yet? Did you pledge? Got a badge, hat and pin? Are you in a clique, cluster, coven? Crows congregate in a murder I think.

As you move through the MOOC, I'd expect you to vanish like the Cheshire cat. Focused and invisible. Or do you still participate widely, while also focusing on something that is not wide? Or is there a wide focus?

I like analytics. I think it can be useful. But analytics should serve people, not the other way around. When people serve analytics, you've got something we call "Education," and it's anything but.

Mark

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