31 March 2017
What is online learning?
Improving online learning with A/B tests
What can we learn from A/B tests?
In conclusion
"Any learning activity that is provided online and that scales."
Gamification
Game based learning
MOOCs
Simulation
Intelligent tutoring
"… 5.5 million students took at least one online course." (US, 2012)
"… more than 24 million people took Codecademy courses …" (worldwide, up to 2014)
"… pilot included over 150 teachers and 8,000 students in a diverse range of schools from urban, suburban, rural to virtual schools." (US, 2014)
"Ruim 900 scholen zijn op dit moment actieve Rekentuin gebruikers. Er worden zo’n 500.000 sommen per dag gemaakt." (NL, 2014)
"Khan Academy is used in over 30,000 classrooms worldwide." (2014)
Benefits
Requirements
A/B testing = RCT = Results Confounded and Trivial ?
Norman: "It is unclear with most curriculum interventions exactly what the therapeutic intervention actually was."
We:
Norman: "…, while a controlled trial may well yield unbiased estimates of treatment effects, they will likely be lost in a sea of unexplained variance, and may not even be detectable."
We:
Norman: "… the accumulation of knowledge about the phenomenon [transfer] came about from many small, tightly controlled studies, …"
I:
We:
Spaced practice
… in Coursera
Sure, there are exceptions (MOOCs, ASSISTments), but still.. why?
"Ideally, a MOOC* would work like the GPS navigation device in your car. You tell it where you want to go, it figures out where you are, and it guides you along the most optimal route. Keeping with the analogy, current MOOCs are like having all GPS navigation devices instruct every car driver to turn right at 9:15 on Monday morning."
* or any other (online) learning environment
excerpt from Navigating Massive Open Online Courses
Will (traditional) education benefit?
Will (traditional) education benefit? And your favorite area of psychology?
Savi, A. O., Ruijs, N. M., Maris, G. K. J., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2017). Online learning solves sturdy problems in education experiments. Manuscript submitted for publication. [preprint]
Savi, A. O. (2017). A tool for MOOC teachers to make evidence-based and domain-specific course improvements. Manuscript submitted for publication. [preprint]
Savi, A. O., Williams, J. J., Maris, G. K. J., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2016). The role of A/B tests in the study of large-scale online learning. Manuscript in preparation. [preprint]
Savi, A. O., van der Maas, H. L. J., & Maris, G. K. J. (2015). Navigating massive open online courses. Science, 347, 958. [full text, reprint]
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