MOOCs and Dialogue: A Great Pairing

Introduction

Speakers

Kevin Martin

Managing Director of DEFI @ Hughes Hall

Kevin Martin is the managing director of the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI), at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, a translational research centre focused on technology in education. Kevin has spent 20 years at the intersection of social innovation and education, particularly on education and dialogue related initiatives in East Africa. Kevin also supports The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program (TIST), a deforestation program in East Africa and India, with education and technology related initiatives.

Kevin earned his PhD from the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, with his thesis titled Using Mobile Phones to Enhance Small Group Dialogic Learning: A Design Based Research Approach to Education Innovation in Rural East Africa. He has ongoing research interests in dialogic education, EdTech, and international development. Prior to undertaking his doctoral research, he was an Assistant Professor of Business Administration and an Associate Dean at New England College.

M is for Massive

The panel will discuss their perceptions and experiences of scale and size in relation to MOOCs. Questions from the audience are welcome at anytime in the discussion

Speakers

Meaghan Brugha

PhD candidate and Tech Industry veteran at Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

Meaghan Brugha will present and discuss findings from the 'Educational Dialogue Course Series', which she developed and trialled as part of her PhD research. These courses were created and offered as free mechanical MOOCs for teachers and teacher educators in schools and tertiary institutions globally. They supported participants in learning: (1) the foundational theories behind educational dialogue; (2) conducting a reflective inquiry into their practice regarding their use of educational dialogue; and (3) supporting their colleagues in developing their dialogic approaches.

Fereshte Goshtasbpour

Lecturer in Digital Education at Institute of Educational Technology, Open University UK

Dr Fereshte Goshtasbpour is a lecturer in Digital Education and the co-lead for Computers and Learning Research Group (CALRG) and Learning@Scale SIG at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), Open University UK. She has twelve years of experience as lecturer, researcher and course designer particularly at scale and has worked with partners in the Middle East, Africa, UK, and Europe. Her research focuses on learning and teaching in open and scaled online educational and professional contexts. More recently she has focused on digital health and wellness technology and in particular the data literacy users require to benefit from such technologies. She has contributed to several international projects as a researcher and co-investigator. For full profile, see https://iet.open.ac.uk/people/fereshte.goshtasbpour

Farah Ahmed

Research Fellow at University of Cambridge

Dr Farah Ahmed is Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. She is a steering group member of the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research group, member of the T-SEDA Collective since 2015 and has been involved in the development, trial and translation of the toolkit and inquiry approach. Farah convenes the Cambridge Dialogues: Rethinking Islamic Education academic network. She is also the founding Director of the Islamic Educator Learning Community online professional development and research-exchange platform. She has published widely on Islamic philosophies of education, pedagogies and practices that draw on dialogic Islamic education theory, and how these might be integrated into contemporary schooling systems.

O is for Open

The panel will discuss their experience of accessibility in terms of MOOCs. Questions from the audience are welcome at any time.

Speakers

Farah Ahmed

Research Fellow at University of Cambridge

Dr Farah Ahmed is Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. She is a steering group member of the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research group, member of the T-SEDA Collective since 2015 and has been involved in the development, trial and translation of the toolkit and inquiry approach. Farah convenes the Cambridge Dialogues: Rethinking Islamic Education academic network. She is also the founding Director of the Islamic Educator Learning Community online professional development and research-exchange platform. She has published widely on Islamic philosophies of education, pedagogies and practices that draw on dialogic Islamic education theory, and how these might be integrated into contemporary schooling systems.

Meaghan Brugha

PhD candidate and Tech Industry veteran at Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

Meaghan Brugha will present and discuss findings from the 'Educational Dialogue Course Series', which she developed and trialled as part of her PhD research. These courses were created and offered as free mechanical MOOCs for teachers and teacher educators in schools and tertiary institutions globally. They supported participants in learning: (1) the foundational theories behind educational dialogue; (2) conducting a reflective inquiry into their practice regarding their use of educational dialogue; and (3) supporting their colleagues in developing their dialogic approaches.

Fereshte Goshtasbpour

Lecturer in Digital Education at Institute of Educational Technology, Open University UK

Dr Fereshte Goshtasbpour is a lecturer in Digital Education and the co-lead for Computers and Learning Research Group (CALRG) and Learning@Scale SIG at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), Open University UK. She has twelve years of experience as lecturer, researcher and course designer particularly at scale and has worked with partners in the Middle East, Africa, UK, and Europe. Her research focuses on learning and teaching in open and scaled online educational and professional contexts. More recently she has focused on digital health and wellness technology and in particular the data literacy users require to benefit from such technologies. She has contributed to several international projects as a researcher and co-investigator. For full profile, see https://iet.open.ac.uk/people/fereshte.goshtasbpour

O is for Online

The panel will share their experiences of digital barriers to being online and how to overcome them by engaging in online dialogue. Questions are welcomed from the audience at any point.

Speakers

Fereshte Goshtasbpour

Lecturer in Digital Education at Institute of Educational Technology, Open University UK

Dr Fereshte Goshtasbpour is a lecturer in Digital Education and the co-lead for Computers and Learning Research Group (CALRG) and Learning@Scale SIG at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), Open University UK. She has twelve years of experience as lecturer, researcher and course designer particularly at scale and has worked with partners in the Middle East, Africa, UK, and Europe. Her research focuses on learning and teaching in open and scaled online educational and professional contexts. More recently she has focused on digital health and wellness technology and in particular the data literacy users require to benefit from such technologies. She has contributed to several international projects as a researcher and co-investigator. For full profile, see https://iet.open.ac.uk/people/fereshte.goshtasbpour

Meaghan Brugha

PhD candidate and Tech Industry veteran at Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

Meaghan Brugha will present and discuss findings from the 'Educational Dialogue Course Series', which she developed and trialled as part of her PhD research. These courses were created and offered as free mechanical MOOCs for teachers and teacher educators in schools and tertiary institutions globally. They supported participants in learning: (1) the foundational theories behind educational dialogue; (2) conducting a reflective inquiry into their practice regarding their use of educational dialogue; and (3) supporting their colleagues in developing their dialogic approaches.

Farah Ahmed

Research Fellow at University of Cambridge

Dr Farah Ahmed is Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. She is a steering group member of the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research group, member of the T-SEDA Collective since 2015 and has been involved in the development, trial and translation of the toolkit and inquiry approach. Farah convenes the Cambridge Dialogues: Rethinking Islamic Education academic network. She is also the founding Director of the Islamic Educator Learning Community online professional development and research-exchange platform. She has published widely on Islamic philosophies of education, pedagogies and practices that draw on dialogic Islamic education theory, and how these might be integrated into contemporary schooling systems.

C is for Course

The panel will share their thoughts on what they consider to be a successful course for example: Is completion the only indicator of success? What about the voice of the inactive learner? Audience views will be actively sought in this session.

Speakers

Farah Ahmed

Research Fellow at University of Cambridge

Dr Farah Ahmed is Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. She is a steering group member of the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research group, member of the T-SEDA Collective since 2015 and has been involved in the development, trial and translation of the toolkit and inquiry approach. Farah convenes the Cambridge Dialogues: Rethinking Islamic Education academic network. She is also the founding Director of the Islamic Educator Learning Community online professional development and research-exchange platform. She has published widely on Islamic philosophies of education, pedagogies and practices that draw on dialogic Islamic education theory, and how these might be integrated into contemporary schooling systems.

Meaghan Brugha

PhD candidate and Tech Industry veteran at Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

Meaghan Brugha will present and discuss findings from the 'Educational Dialogue Course Series', which she developed and trialled as part of her PhD research. These courses were created and offered as free mechanical MOOCs for teachers and teacher educators in schools and tertiary institutions globally. They supported participants in learning: (1) the foundational theories behind educational dialogue; (2) conducting a reflective inquiry into their practice regarding their use of educational dialogue; and (3) supporting their colleagues in developing their dialogic approaches.

Fereshte Goshtasbpour

Lecturer in Digital Education at Institute of Educational Technology, Open University UK

Dr Fereshte Goshtasbpour is a lecturer in Digital Education and the co-lead for Computers and Learning Research Group (CALRG) and Learning@Scale SIG at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), Open University UK. She has twelve years of experience as lecturer, researcher and course designer particularly at scale and has worked with partners in the Middle East, Africa, UK, and Europe. Her research focuses on learning and teaching in open and scaled online educational and professional contexts. More recently she has focused on digital health and wellness technology and in particular the data literacy users require to benefit from such technologies. She has contributed to several international projects as a researcher and co-investigator. For full profile, see https://iet.open.ac.uk/people/fereshte.goshtasbpour

Kevin Martin

Managing Director of DEFI @ Hughes Hall

Kevin Martin is the managing director of the Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI), at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, a translational research centre focused on technology in education. Kevin has spent 20 years at the intersection of social innovation and education, particularly on education and dialogue related initiatives in East Africa. Kevin also supports The International Small Group and Tree Planting Program (TIST), a deforestation program in East Africa and India, with education and technology related initiatives.

Kevin earned his PhD from the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, with his thesis titled Using Mobile Phones to Enhance Small Group Dialogic Learning: A Design Based Research Approach to Education Innovation in Rural East Africa. He has ongoing research interests in dialogic education, EdTech, and international development. Prior to undertaking his doctoral research, he was an Assistant Professor of Business Administration and an Associate Dean at New England College.