UTA recently expanded its catalog of Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs, with two new courses. One trains educators on the practical applications of emerging technologies like social media in K-12 teaching and learning. The other helps online instructors of college courses replicate classroom connectedness.
What Now? Emerging Technologies and Their Practical Application in K-12 Teaching and Learning
More than 3,100 students from 139 countries have participated in the first MOOC to date, titled What Now? Emerging Technologies and Their Practical Application in K-12 Teaching and Learning, which continues to be available for self-guided learners. Participants learned about the practical applications of new technologies such as smartphones and tablets, social media, big data and learning analytics, telecommunications, wearable technology, and a variety of additional educational tools for their daily work as K-12 educators.
Humanizing Online Instruction: Building a Community of Inquiry
The second course, Humanizing Online Instruction: Building a Community of Inquiry, was a four-week Micro-MOOC made available in November on the Canvas Open Network to all those who were interested. This course helped online instructors of college and university courses replicate within an online environment the sense of connectedness and community that engages and retains classroom-based students. Cornell University and Princess Nourah University in Saudi Arabia are also participating in the course.
"MOOCs really set UTA apart as a world-class university that draws from the global learning community while teaching to that same community at the same time," says Pete Smith, UTA's vice provost for digital teaching and learning.
The two courses were developed by UTA's Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge (LINK) Research Lab.
