Policy track 1

Joining the MOOCs conversation: partnerships, Networks and Alliances from a multi-level governance perspective
In the past year, a variety of initiatives have emerged in response to the MOOCs revolution. Multiple initiatives, networks and partnerships rallying a large scope of actors sparked the debate and raised questions on how to manage the impact of MOOCs as on the future of education. This panel aims to address some of the most important questions being asked and to help define the path moving forward. What would be a viable MOOCs model? Should we have a national or a supranational platform? How do the European Commission and the Opening Up Education initiative fit into this configuration? Each talk has to be 5-10 minutes long followed by discussion. The main part of the session should be devoted to the discussions among panelists with the audience. Chair: Yves Epelboin, UPMC, France. Yves.epelboin@upmc.fr

Catherine Mongenet
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Since May 2013, Catherine Mongenet is Policy Officer at the French Ministry of Higher Education in charge of the project France Universit Numrique. She has been a professor in Computer Science at University of Strasbourg since 2000. From 2009 to 2012, she has been vice-president of the University of Strasbourg in charge of the ICT strategy and the management of information systems. The report of the ICT strategy is available here. The aim of the national project France Universit Numrique is to support the French universities to develop online education and promote innovative teaching and learning methods using digital and online tools. More information in this project here.

Abstract
In 2012 the French Minister of Higher Education and Research included a digital strategy for higher education among her top priorities. An ambitious digital agenda, called France Universit Numrique, structured with 18 actions aims at supporting the French universities to develop online education and promote innovative teaching and learning methods using digital and online tools. The agenda covers issues from state-of-the art infrastructures, efficient information eMOOC 2014 Y. Epelboin 1

systems to the innovative use of digital technologies in curricula, the promotion of digital educational contents and the development of online diplomas. A first action of this agenda is a MOOC platform set up by the Ministry for French universities and their international academic partners. This decision was made in June 2013 and materialized in October 2013. To reach this ambitious goal, the Ministry chose an Open source solution, Open edX, and relied on public institutions to install and run the platform. The platform was launched on October 28th (www.france-universite-numeriquemooc.fr) and the first courses have started in January 2014. It hosts 25 MOOCs from 10 French higher education institutions; more will come in 2014 with around 50 MOOC online by September 2014. The first 25 MOOC cover various subjects: history, philosophy, mathematics, biology, technologies, health, sustainable development, physics, management, law Some of these courses are master-level courses, but many of them are open to lifelong learners. Although most of the courses are in French, one is taught in English and 4 of them will be accessible in 3 languages, namely French, German and English. Cooperation with francophone universities around the world is already considered.

Jan-Olov Hog
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Prof. Hg is responsible for the education at basic and advanced level at Karolinska Instituet and he is also a member of the European Bologna expert network, a network promoting the European Higher Education Area. He chaired the start-up of several education programs, e.g. biomedicine and medical informatics. He has been involved in e-learning projects both within Europe and globally. More than ten years ago he was involved in a global distance course in bioinformatics, a pre-MOOC. He has had several missions for different authorities in Sweden concerning education and educational matters. His research interest is in protein chemistry and enzymology with focus on detoxification systems, specifically the metabolism of alcohols.

Abstract
The prospect of offering MOOCs in the European context presents European universities with a number of challenges. One challenge that we would like to address here is the notion of offering certificates, which may consequently mean that MOOCs would, to some degree, be recognized as a supplement to regular undergraduate and graduate programmes. Currently MOOC providers offer a number of certificates, ranging from certificate of completion to certificate of mastery. Few universities, however, offer regular course credit for MOOC completion. Given the background of the Bologna agreement, with its focus on a European credit transfer and course validation we feel it is important to address the issue of awarding course credit for MOOCs. Further challenges in this context are made up of the formal regulations, including, among others things, formal course syllabi, formally recognized

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intended learning outcomes and also models for student fees. If we encourage the development of MOOCs that run in parallel to university undergraduate or graduate programmes, then what policy do we have for validating the same knowledge and how do we view this knowledge as being part of a students learning trajectory? A first step in considering acknowledging MOOCs as a supplement to on-campus education involves highlighting the assessment of MOOCs. This needs to be done in order to assure that they comply with our high demands and requirements for course completion. Consequently, we should consider the risks in allowing credit for MOOCs, and also the business models involved, so that we can guarantee out own long-term sustainability.

Christine Redecker
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Christine Redecker has been working as a scientist at the European Commission Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) since 2008. During this time she has been responsible for several research lines in the area of ICT and learning, including a project on Learning 2.0 (2008-2010) and a study on the Future of Learning (2009-2011). Her current research focus is on Open Educational Resources and Practices in a study that focuses on developing visions and scenarios for Open Education 2030 in the three areas of School Education, Higher Education and Adult Learning. Christine is a qualified Secondary School teacher and holds a PhD in Philosophy. Before joining IPTS she worked several years in education, as school teacher, teacher trainer and university lecturer.

Abstract
The "Open Education 2030" project, conducted by the European Commission Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) in collaboration with DG Education and Culture, aims to envisage visions and scenarios for Open Education 2030 and to develop a roadmap to drive the process of opening up education. As part of this project a series of three scenario workshops were conducted in the areas of Adult Learning, Higher Education and School Education. As a result, a set of four scenarios was developed, which jointly describe the variety of Open Education pathways in the future. With respect to the higher education sector, one of the key insights that emerges is that education institutions will have new roles and areas of specialization that will emerge as a consequence of "unbundling" the services currently offered conjointly and of the open availability of data and resources. Some institutions will focus on providing and continuously improving learning and teaching materials, resources and courses (such as MOOCs) for learners who will customize their learning pathway themselves (the "my career path" scenario). Other institutions will focus on providing educational and career guidance services to learners who prefer to learn in a more structured and guided way (the "fit for success" scenario). eMOOC 2014 Y. Epelboin 3

Some universities will concentrate on research and will supply an increasingly diverse pool of researchers with the necessary equipment and infrastructure for experimental research (the "networked knowledge" scenario). While these research centers will necessarily be locally bound to a particular physical place, they will form part of global networks for knowledge exchange. The fourth scenario draws on current trends, which allow anyone to conduct research based on open data and remotely accessible equipment ("citizen science"). This trend, if it continues, would allow anyone to generate new knowledge by testing hypotheses and exploring patterns using the vast amount of data available on all kinds of aspects of life. This "distributed knowledge" scenario does not rely on the existence of any kind of higher education institution. It only relies on open data and on the ingenuity of future generations. The four scenarios illustrate different manifestations of one and the same vision, outlining how this vision is realized under diverse learning circumstances and conditions. Learners should be able to move fluidly between scenarios, as their learning needs change. Higher education systems and institutions must ensure that validation and recognition mechanisms are developed and put in place that allow for this fluidity and ensure that the specific kind of expertise gained in the different scenarios is valued in view of subsequent career steps.

Jeff Haywood
Bibliography
Jeff Haywood is Vice-Principal for Knowledge Management, Chief Information Officer and Librarian at the University of Edinburgh. He is responsible for the Universitys integrated Information Service and leads current major initiatives in expanding online distance and open education, high performance computing services, research data management & storage services, the redesign of the University website, selection of the next generation VLE, development of technology-rich study spaces, and e-assessment. Jeff also holds the position of Professor of Education & Technology in the Universitys School of Education. His research interests are in the development of strategies for effective use of ICT in education at institutional, national and international levels, with a particular emphasis on understanding learner experiences. He has led, and been a partner in, numerous EU-, JISC-, SFC- and Research Council-funded projects in the field of technology in higher education and lifelong learning. At present he advises the Scottish Government on the design and implementation of the next generation digital learning environment for schools and is academic leader in an EC study to aid European ministries of education in achieving higher education transformation with technology.

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Abstract
Having successfully run 7 individual MOOCs, with 3 re-runs, we now feel confident in design and delivery, and have a well-tuned process to choose and create new MOOCs for our two MOOC host partners, Coursera and Futurelearn. We feel that we can move on to explore new global and local uses of MOOCs, an activity we are calling MOOC+. One area we are working on is a joint offering of an existing MOOC (Edinburghs Critical Thinking) with Universitas 21, one of our global alliances. Students from most of the partner universities will join each other and teaching staff to learn together online and to offer their views from their own cultural perspectives. Face-to-face classes at each university will complement the online classes and be used to support reflection on the experience. A combined global and local use of MOOCs is our design of bilingual English and Spanish MOOCs in basic computer science and app development for school children to be offered worldwide and supported locally in Scotland and Uruguay. Entirely locally we are about to run EdinburghX, with student volunteers helping residents in the city of Edinburgh to study MOOCs from us and from others. For all these MOOC+ developments, as for our MOOCs in general, we assess the pedagogical affordances of our MOOC host partners (at present Futurelearn and Coursera), and also their reach to specific audiences. We recognize that MOOCs with different purposes may require different approaches.

Nicholas Watson
Bibliography
Nicholas Watson is Director, Corporate and Learning Environments (CLE) in Learning Teaching Solutions (LTS) at The Open University in the UK. LTS is the learning and teaching platform and media development and production unit for the University. Nicholas is responsible for the ongoing development and delivery of the institutional Learning Management System, a Moodle instance supporting over 200,000 students. He is also responsible for the delivery of mobile learning and teaching alternatives, such as OU Anywhere - smartphone and tablet apps delivering all core teaching content to the student body. CLE is also responsible for piloting initiatives such as the use of ebooks and, of course, MOOCs. Prior to his current role Nicholas was Head of Strategic Projects, and before joining the Open University spent sixteen years working in education production at the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Abstract
The UK Open University (OU) has for some years made a considerable commitment to the development and delivery of Open Educational Resources (OERs). This simultaneously fulfills an institutional Charter obligation to

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contribute to the cultural and educational wellbeing of the wider community, but also aligns with a University strategic objective to create a ladder of learning that assists people who are seeking to return to formal learning. This strategy, the Journey from Informal to Formal Learning, provides learning resources, and assists in the development of learning skills for individuals who may be returning to formal learning after considerable time, or may even, due to their personal or social circumstances, never had an educational opportunity. MOOCs, and in particular, those offered through the FutureLearn platform, are emerging as a key vehicle for delivering OERs and tools for learning. They are however just one of a many stranded approach to reaching out to different audiences. The OU develops and delivers content through a number of channels, some, such as OpenLearn it has developed itself. But it also versions content and learning narratives for other high visibility channels, such as iTunesU, YouTube, the BBC and FutureLearn. Taken together, they provide a means of meeting the needs of multiple audiences through their own preferred platforms and use environments.

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