The #EMOOCS2017 experience for me (by Lorena Arismendy)

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Not so long ago, fulfilling your desire to know more about any random topic at a random time implied picking up a dictionary, atlas or an encyclopedia to enlighten yourself, whilst today it takes as little as picking up your smartphone and doing a quick search on the internet to widen your understanding about almost anything and anywhere. Besides that, employers all over the world demand a more qualified workforce, so higher standards apply today when it comes to looking for a job. These, along with many other factors, implied switching paradigms and basically questioning everything we thought we knew about the way we learn and, of course, the way we teach.

To be more specific, educational needs are changing at an alarming rate. But, how do we cater to this new generation of learners’ requirements? How do we engage them? Does it mean “traditional education methods” must change in order to reach them? Is it profitable to do so? After this wonderful experience, being part of the staff of the 2017 EMOOCs conferences hosted by the UC3M, I reaffirm and realize (at some level) that institutions, such as schools and Universities, which fail to deliver accordingly, will soon be left out of a prolific flood of learners who are eager to acquire knowledge and skills at a more accurate pace and yearn for a more accessible method to do so. This precisely is where EMOOCs and their ever so convenient approaches have proven to begin a revolution capable of changing the way we educate and get educated. This is a challenge on its own, for as far as I could see, their recognition and integration into our current educational system is still in progress, but it’s definitely getting there. That’d be the main reason why I’m absolutely considering incorporating them into my future as a teacher.

So far, I’ve only had the chance to get involved from the learner’s perspective, which has allowed me to benefit greatly so far, but during the last week I also had the opportunity to witness and evaluate the MOOC phenomenon from their creators, designers, developers, teachers, technical supporters, marketers and basically everyone involved in the creating to delivering process, which gave me a whole new perspective on them and encouraged me to  take the most advantage of them when enrolling as a student and to seriously consider them as an alternative for teaching, bearing in mind the hard work they actually are.

For instance, I got to participate in the “MOOC design method” session, which was actually more of a “course design method for a course design method”. In this highly interactive workshop we were confronted with several questions and so we got the chance to discus and exchange ideas regarding the challenges MOOC designers and developers face, what is the desired outcome for a MOOC and mainly how to get there. Discussion groups were arranged so people with the wildest difference in experience were sharing the same table, which made those couple of hours truly enrichening. In the end, even though a bullet proof formula is yet to be discovered, we learned a few steps to ease up the MOOC creating process, such as: beginning with the end in mind, looking at your possibilities, co-create the course design with everyone involved in it, test it, adjust it and then look forward.

So yes, the experience was mesmerizing, I’m glad and thankful I got to be a part of it. I’ll be looking forward to making the best out of everything I learned and also to keep in touch with the all amazing people I met and worked with.

Lorena Arismendy.