Massively open, international, and fun: Writing II Rhetorical Composing

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Massively open, international, and fun: Writing II Rhetorical Composing
Tweet Topic Started: Apr 20 2013, 10:52 AM (297 Views)
jn4jenny	Apr 20 2013, 10:52 AM Post #1
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,777 Group: Admin Member #893 Joined: March 18, 2007	So...this is why I've been so quiet on TOC lately. I've been busy working on this: https://www.coursera.org/course/writing2 It's a Massively Open Online Course, free to anyone in the world. And by "massive," I mean we currently have in excess of 27,000 people enrolled. It's a writing course with a focus on Rhetorical Composing. I'd love it if some of you joined the course and told your friends about it. It's a labor of love, and it's the reason I've been pulling 50+ hour weeks for many weeks on end. I'm on a faculty team with seven other folks + a computer programmer + lots of support staff from our university's learning technology offices, tech/systems admin people, etc. We've met, we've planned...and now we see if the bird flies. It's a big experiment. Coursera itself, the platform on which we're hosting the class, only launched 11 months ago in April 2012, and we've built a companion environment for the course that supplements the Coursera site (<--that's actually how I ended up on the team, since I speak both "composition pedagogy" and "computer programming." Although thank goodness, the team hired a proper computer programmer and didn't rely on me to code the companion site.) It's going to be crazy. And on that note, I am going to unchain myself from my desk and see if my horse remembers me. Edited by jn4jenny, Apr 20 2013, 10:55 AM.



Reynard Ridge	Apr 20 2013, 11:55 AM Post #2
Drivin' The Short Bus Posts: 2,934 Group: Members Member #237 Joined: January 8, 2007	I'm in; and I'll tell a few writing friends. Sounds like fun!



Trialbyfire	Apr 20 2013, 12:07 PM Post #3
You're BANNED! Posts: 5,272 Group: Members Member #250 Joined: January 8, 2007	Wow, awesome! My dd sort of "audited" a Coursera class (Genetics) to prepare for a science competition, and I joined the one on Equine Nutrition but didn't actually do it...just don't have time. That one had some phenomenally huge number of enrollees...but probably many of them (like me) didn't actually participate. I don't have time to take a class right now but I think it's awesome that you are doing this! I am tempted to check it out (or have my older dd do it...) but I suspect it's beyond her writing level at the moment and we're already involved in another online writing class. But maybe I'll join just for fun and spy on the class. Congrats!



jn4jenny	Apr 21 2013, 08:53 AM Post #4
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,777 Group: Admin Member #893 Joined: March 18, 2007	I'll tell you a not-really-a secret, Trialbyfire: We don't mind if you just lurk. We had lots of discussions on the team about what it means to teach in a MOOC environment, and we feel pretty strongly that the "open" in Massively Open means that we need to be open to our participants' wide range of goals and motivations. If folks want to take the whole course and get the Statement of Accomplishment, that's great and we've designed the course to build progressively. But we've also designed the course to work modularly, meaning that if you don't want to do the whole enchilada--like maybe you just want to do a couple of units, or you want to watch all the videos but not write any of the assignments--you can still have a rewarding experience. You can imagine how mind-bending it was to design a course that worked like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel but also worked in a clear, chronological arc. I'll tell you another not-really-a secret: partly because of this project, I've enrolled in a half dozen MOOCs. I haven't finished a single one, not even the one that I really liked (a Calculus course, and I'm an English teacher so that's saying a lot!). That experience made me very sympathetic to MOOC participants who have real lives and are struggling to fit MOOC work into their schedules. Edited by jn4jenny, Apr 21 2013, 08:54 AM.



Reynard Ridge	Apr 21 2013, 10:29 AM Post #5
Drivin' The Short Bus Posts: 2,934 Group: Members Member #237 Joined: January 8, 2007	My goal for the course is to complete it for the simple reason that the one thing my writing completely lacks is discipline. I've been eyeing a Writers Market course that is something like $300US; I figure if I can complete a free course, then I can allow myself to spend money on a course that meets my specific needs. So, we'll see. I wouldn't bet on me actually finishing. Like I said, discipline is a bit of an issue.



SnackPack	Apr 22 2013, 10:55 AM Post #6
You're BANNED! Posts: 4,570 Group: Members Member #238 Joined: January 8, 2007	Trialbyfire Apr 20 2013, 12:07 PM I joined the one on Equine Nutrition but didn't actually do it...just don't have time. That one had some phenomenally huge number of enrollees...but probably many of them (like me) didn't actually participate. Heh. I signed up for the equine nutrition course but didn't end up taking it. I don't even remember getting a reminder that the course was starting, so it slipped my mine. I am REALLY not in the place to do anything now. Why I didn't realize that rehabbing one horse and getting another ridden was going to mean not getting home until 9 pm most nights is not my proudest moment of forethought. I am loving Z, but man, I'm not loving the 14 hours days (neither is my cat). It should get better once Z is out of quarantine as she can have actually days off and I won't have to clean her stall everyday (our barn staff will not clean a stall if a horse is locked in. Ask me how annoying that is. ). J4J: the concept is interesting. I would "take" courses if I didn't have to do assignments...especially written assignments. I love to learn, I even love to take tests....I just hate writing.



jn4jenny	Apr 22 2013, 11:47 AM Post #7
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,777 Group: Admin Member #893 Joined: March 18, 2007	SnackPack Apr 22 2013, 10:55 AM J4J: the concept is interesting. I would "take" courses if I didn't have to do assignments...especially written assignments. I love to learn, I even love to take tests....I just hate writing. You can do exactly that! There's no grade police on Coursera. Although there is a Statement of Accomplishment track, statistics from previous courses suggest that the majority of people are lurkers. Seriously, even if you don't check out our MOOC, check out some of the others. Other than our MOOC and Jim Fowler's shockingly awesome Calculus One class, I really like Dan Ariely's Beginner's Guide to Irrational Behavior. The videos are great. https://www.coursera.org/course/behavioralecon PS--remember long, long ago when you submitted a narrative to the DALN about being an Outside Course member? That stuff FINALLY came in handy. I wrote a paper about the narratives way back when, but it wasn't good enough to publish. Still, I walked away with insights that affected how I thought about online community and my future research--and I've directly referenced that paper in conversations with our MOOC team about how to build a supportive, engaging, pleasant environment online. So thanks for helping me make history in a leeeeetle tiny way.



Reynard Ridge	Apr 28 2013, 08:07 AM Post #8
Drivin' The Short Bus Posts: 2,934 Group: Members Member #237 Joined: January 8, 2007	And, I just submitted my first assignment!



Reynard Ridge	May 6 2013, 08:15 AM Post #9
Drivin' The Short Bus Posts: 2,934 Group: Members Member #237 Joined: January 8, 2007	And ... FAIL! I missed the second assignment. It was a peer review assignment, and I am just not in the mood to engage on writing. My bad, a bit sad, and yet, really not into it.



jn4jenny	May 6 2013, 10:31 AM Post #10
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,777 Group: Admin Member #893 Joined: March 18, 2007	Reynard Ridge May 6 2013, 08:15 AM And ... FAIL! I missed the second assignment. It was a peer review assignment, and I am just not in the mood to engage on writing. My bad, a bit sad, and yet, really not into it. Ah, but that's the beauty of the MOOC: nobody's policing you! Seems like people were either REALLY into the second assignment or REALLY not. I'm eager to see if the peer review round for Weeks 4/5 attracts the same people or a totally different crowd. That unit is more oriented to visual rhetoric and analysis, so it may attract a different group. And this week is a breather week without any peer review. Lots of videos, lots of optional activities.



Indy	May 9 2013, 10:40 AM Post #11
You're BANNED! Posts: 8,083 Group: Admin Member #326 Joined: January 10, 2007	I sent Mr. Indy the link for Coursera and he is so excited that he can take random classes on things for free. Coursera is - and I quote verbatim "the COOLEST THING EVER" So thanks jn4



jn4jenny	May 9 2013, 10:43 AM Post #12
Is the meadow on fire? Posts: 1,777 Group: Admin Member #893 Joined: March 18, 2007	Indy May 9 2013, 10:40 AM I sent Mr. Indy the link for Coursera and he is so excited that he can take random classes on things for free. Coursera is - and I quote verbatim "the COOLEST THING EVER" So thanks jn4 Yay! I'm glad he's having fun. There are two other prominent MOOC platforms, EdX and Udacity. He might want to check those out too. https://www.edx.org/ https://www.udacity.com/



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