CLARIFICATION ON MOOC EXPECTATIONSTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

MAIN POINTS TO UNDERSTAND1. The Novice Badge is now the only required badge for your work in

the MOOC.

2. The Enthusiast Badge is now optional.

3. There are more Novice Badge posts to make than previously understood. (To be explained further in a moment.)

4. In total, you are making 18 blog posts now, including the Intro post and the final Intent to Earn Badge post. You are no longer required to comment on others’ blogs. This is about the same amount of work, or maybe a little less.

5. The instructions urge you to make your Topic 1 posts by Thursday of Week 1. If you need more time to adjust to these changed expectations, take it.

6. I am presently making changes to Weekly Instructions lists and have updated Week 1. If you see another place where instructions continue to confuse or contradict, please let me know.

ADVANTAGES TO CHANGE• Clearer what you need to do.

• Workload more routine and consistent.

• Commenting on others’ posts no longer required, which may make your interactions more genuine and less cumbersome since you do not have to document everything.

DISADVANTAGES• You are having to readjust here in the first week. This may

cause you confusion and discomfort.

NOVICE BADGE REQUIREMENTS For Each Topic in MOOC, you will do the following:

• “Blogging Activity” Blog Post -- For each topic, you write a blog post in response to the “Blogging Activity” at the bottom of the topic page.

• Topic Summary Blog Post -- For each topic, you write a blog post in which you summarize what you’ve learned from the topic and why it’s important

Note: Check out the Badge Page on the MOOC itself:

http://virtualschoolmooc.wikispaces.com/badges

Example of Blogging Activity at Bottom of Topic 1

ENTHUSIAST BADGE IS OPTIONAL• For those who still want to

pursue this badge, I have added a new column to the Course-Specific MOOC Schedule in which the Enthusiast requirements are detailed in dark blue. Again, Enthusiast-Badge-related tasks are now OPTIONAL.

MOVING FORWARD• In all things, be sure to mind the Badge details on the

MOOC:

o http://virtualschoolmooc.wikispaces.com/badges

• Keep me posted on areas of confusion: this is how we discovered this nuanced change.