[论文解读] Massive Open and Online Courses and Open Education Resources in Singapore

Victor Lim, Lawrence Wee+2 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Aug 16, 2017

Open Education and E-Learning参考文献 2被引用 6

一句话总结

本文探讨了新加坡在大规模开放在线课程（MOOCs）和开放教育资料（OERs）方面的采纳情况及其影响，分析了政府与机构为提升可及性与质量所采取的举措。研究识别出诸多益处，如降低教育成本、增加终身学习机会，同时也指出了诸多挑战，如MOOC完成率低、抄袭风险以及因资金不足和质量保障框架薄弱导致的可持续性问题。

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at the increasing popularity of massive open and online courses (MOOCs) and open educational resources (OERs) offered in Singapore. Despite being a relatively new phenomenon, the Singapore government has collaborated with different organizations to improve the quality and accessibility of MOOCs, and many institutions of higher learning (IHLs) are spearheading efforts to improve OERs to facilitate greater public access to educational resources. It will also explore the benefits and potential problems that MOOCs and OERs face. For example, both MOOCs and OERs are able to lower the costs of university-level education and increase public access to such courses. They also provide skills and job training for members of the public as well as encourage lifelong learning. However, both MOOCs and OERs may not be sustainable in the long run, as the financial gains of both may not be able to cover the costs of mounting them. Each system also has its own set of problems. For example, formal structures to guarantee the quality of MOOCs offered remain lacking. MOOCs also tend to have low completion rates and there have been issues regarding plagiarism with the use of MOOCs as learning platforms. OERs pose challenges to traditional copyright policies while lack of sustainable funding prevents them from being adopted more widely. Even though both systems may potentially transform the traditional education system, a deeper understanding of MOOCs and OERs as well as their implications on learning will be useful.

研究动机与目标

• 分析MOOCs与OERs在扩大新加坡高等教育可及性方面的作用。
• 考察政府与机构为提升MOOCs与OERs的质量与可及性所采取的举措。
• 识别MOOC与OER实施过程中的关键挑战，如完成率低、抄袭问题以及资金可持续性。
• 评估MOOCs与OERs对新加坡传统高等教育体系长期转型影响。

提出的方法

• 本研究采用定性分析方法，对新加坡的政策文件、机构报告及教育举措进行分析。
• 研究基于新加坡政府与高等教育机构（IHLs）在MOOC与OER开发方面的合作数据。
• 作者评估了现有MOOC平台与OER资源库在质量、可及性与用户参与度方面的表现。
• 研究通过分析IHLs中MOOC与OER实施的案例研究，评估其有效性与面临的挑战。
• 比较MOOC与OER在成本、可扩展性与可持续性方面的模式差异。
• 分析涵盖对现有关于OER与MOOC挑战（尤其是版权与完成率问题）的文献回顾。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 MOOCs与OERs在新加坡高等教育格局中是如何整合的？
• RQ2 MOOC与OER在新加坡采纳过程中存在哪些主要益处与挑战？
• RQ3 低完成率与抄袭风险如何影响新加坡MOOC平台的可信度与可持续性？
• RQ4 哪些机构与政策机制支持或阻碍MOOC与OER的可扩展性与质量保障？
• RQ5 MOOCs与OERs对新加坡传统高等教育模式的长期影响是什么？

主要发现

• 新加坡的MOOCs与OERs显著降低了大学水平教育的获取成本，并扩大了终身学习的机会。
• 尽管政府与机构已采取努力，MOOCs仍持续面临低完成率问题，削弱了其作为独立学习工具的有效性。
• 抄袭问题已在MOOCs中凸显，尤其在评估与认证流程中。
• OERs面临版权合规问题以及缺乏可持续资金支持，限制了其在机构中的广泛采用。
• MOOCs的正式质量保障机制仍不健全，引发了对学术可信度与一致性的担忧。
• 尽管MOOCs与OERs均展现出变革潜力，但因缺乏健全的财务模式，长期可持续性仍不确定。