Participative design of qMOOCs with deep learning and 3d virtual immersive environments : the case of MOOCAgora

• Main Authors: Mystakidis, Stylianos, Berki, Eleni
• Other Authors: Μυστακίδης, Στυλιανός
• Language: English
• Published: European Association of Technology-Enhanced Learning (EA-TEL) 2021
• Subjects: E-learning; Distance education; Distance learning; Virtual worlds; Open education; Massive Open Online Courses; Employment; Lilfe-long learning; Deep and meaningful learning; Ηλεκτρονική μάθηση; Ανοικτή εκπαίδευση; Εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευση; Εικονικοί κόσμοι; Απασχόληση; Διά βίου μάθηση; Μαζικά ανοικτά διαδικτυακά μαθήματα; Βαθιά νοηματοδοτημένη μάθηση

The recommendation of the Digital Agenda Assembly 2012 to address the development of suitable socio-technical skills and expertise through open education and MOOCs in order to decrease unemployment in Europe faces three challenges: a) increase MOOC quantity, b) speed-up MOOC delivery and c) improve MOOC quality. The paper argues that a crowd-sourced open education ecosystem, called MOOCAgora, can address the first two challenges by implementing an 8-stage MOOC for a realistic employment business circle. Furthermore the authors propose a new, quality-centered format of MOOCs, the qMOOC, in order to address challenge c, above, as well as qualification and web skills needs. qMOOCs can use a modified version of the MOOC canvas framework for qualifications and competences that can be achieved through three educational components/paradigms: deep learning experiences, problem-focused education and 3d virtual immersive environments.