The Open Translation MOOC: at the interface of self-determined and

collaborative learning

Tita Beaven, Mirjam Hauck, Anna Comas-Quinn, Bea de los Arcos, Tim Lewis

Department of Languages, The Open University

CALICO 6-10 May, University of Ohio, Athens

“around which people who care about a topic can get together and work and talk about a topic in a structured way”(Cormier 2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc&feature=player_embedded

cMOOCs

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/68/Canada_flag_halifax_9_-04.JPG/800px-Canada_flag_halifax_9_-04.JPG

- Connectivism / the network- Knowledge creation and sense making

happen in the network- Require high digital and learning skills

xMOOCs

In search of a theoretical framework …

• informal and self-directed learning = defining characteristics of 21st century education

• learners = highly motivated and self-determined

• ca. 70% of learning happens outside formal education

Sociality Theory

• human capacity to feel empathy, show altruism, exercise reciprocity and fairness

• aptitude for cooperating with others(Henrich et al. 2004)

• traits to be found not only in our hunter-gatherer ancestors, but also in today’s online learners

Heutagogy

• learners are “the main agent in their own learning, which occurs as a result of personal experiences”

(Hase & Kenyon 2007)

• “when self-determined, people experience a sense of freedom to do what is interesting, personally important, and vitalizing”

(Deci & Ryan 1991)

Heutagogy

Progression from pedagogy to andragogy, then to heutagogy (based on Canning, 2010)

Heutagogy and MOOCs

• “MOOCs expect that their participants will be motivated and will have learned how to learn.”

(Downes, 2012)

• What about collaboration?

“The connections and the comments is what the course is all about […] the discussions is what you took the course for.”

(Cormier, 2010)

Participatory literacy skills

• the ability to contribute to blogs, wikis, social networking and sharing sites, virtual worlds and gaming environments

• elements of creativity, reasoning and collaboration in addition to skills in attention, critical thinking and analysis

(Pegrum, 2009)

Participatory literacy skills and MOOCs

• “by starting out with a presumption of a different set of skills, MOOCs explicitly foster and value these skills”

• “What we are trying to do with a MOOC is to create an environment where people who are more advanced reasoners, thinkers, motivators, arguers, and educators can practice their skills in a public way by interacting with each other. “

(Downes, 2012)

Heutagogy revisited

Progression from pedagogy to andragogy to heutagogy

(based on Canning, 2010 and Blaschke, 2012)

The OT12 MOOC

Open translation

• discipline at the intersection between open content, open source software and open production models (Hyde, 2009)

→ relies on open collaboration→ engages a volunteer workforce in the translation

of resources published openly on the web• aim:

avoiding the creation of ‘a critical bottleneck in the open knowledge ecosystem’ (Hyde, 2009)

Crowdsourcing translation

The OT12 MOOC

• background reading/clips to watch• forum(s) to engage with• subtitling and translation work (OERs)• wiki on quality assurance for OT projects• webcast seminars in Elluminate with guest speakers• blog• weekly digests

From theory to practice

What did we find out about self-determination, collaboration and participatory skills from running the Open Translation MOOC?

DATAThree surveys: participants’ backgrounds (n=196); participants’ expectations (n=56); evaluation (n=34)

Participant profiles

• The first or main language(s) of the participants were:Spanish (32%)English (22%)Brazilian Portuguese (11%)Greek (9%)French (7%)Italian (6%)

• 70% of participants rated themselves C1 or C2 in their second language

Participant profiles

• Translation experience:

I have no experience of translating

I have some informal experience of translating (e.g. i have been asked to translate emails/letters at work, by friends, etc.)

I have some experience of translating, but don't do this professionally

I have some experience of translating professionally

0% 5% 10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%

Participant expectations

• Learning aspirations:

Transla

tion tools,

techniques

& skills

Open to

ols, MOOCs, o

nline p

edag

ogy

Langu

age a

nd litera

cy ski

lls

Personal

confiden

ce0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Participant expectations

• Perceived success factors:

→ opportunity to use and evaluate different open translation tools (89.1%)

→ level of guidance and support from organizers (85.5%)

→ clarity and coherence of pedagogic design (83.6%)

→ working collaboratively with partners (67.3%)

Participant expectations

• What they expected from the organisers:

General guidance

Problem solving ( esp. technical)

Individual Feedback on posts/translations

Interesting Activities

Keep us motivated/engaged

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Example: Julia

Hi Sofia,I’m assuming you're Brazilian. I normally work Portuguese-English but

for this exercise obviously have to work into Portuguese. But I'm not 100% sure of grammar. Would you be able to edit what I've done? Agradeço a sua ajuda! (Julia)

Hi Julia,Yes, I'm Brazilian. I am more than willing to revise your work, just

not sure yet how to do it in the Transifex website. I'll take a look and get back at you!

Good to be in contact! (Sofia)

Obrigada Sofia,Eu também vou ver se consigo ver como editar. Se descobrir como depois digo alguma coisa. (Julia)

Example: JuliaHi everyone on the Portuguese team,I worked on two sections of the Portuguese translation. I have just gone in now and

am so happy to see that we have finished the translation! Well done everyone!I see, however, that it hasn't been reviewed. Here is where I will state my limitations. My Portuguese suffers from not knowing whether it's European/Brazilian given my exposure to both influences, so I'm the wrong person to review this translation.Ideally only one person should review the translation so that he/she can pick out the inconsistencies in terminology and style. Is there anyone who can volunteer to do this final necessary step of our project? [Julia]

Hello everyone,I am happy to help with the revision. How do we mark strings as revised?I have just had a look and found there are still some English strings marked as

translated but they just have the source code.I have made some suggestions to some translations and before I realised there was

a tool for it, I had changed a few strings. Would you guys prefer see suggestions or just see the revised string? How do we make sure suggestions are reviewed and implemented? Will there be notifications if anybody suggest a review?

I have left a question about how to deal with the html code - I see this is missing in so many strings that I am confused about how to handle it. Hugs, Paula (Global Voices)

Evaluation survey

• The purpose and learning outcomes were– very clear (66%)– partly clear (34%)

• Their expectations had been met – fully (46%)– partly (51%)

Impact of OT12

Confidence

Online communication skills

Opportunity to use your foreign language

Opportunity to translate

Better understanding of translation tools

Opportunity to network with likeminded people

Awareness of open educational resources

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

What did you gain most from taking part in the MOOC? (Click all that apply)

Suggestions for improvement

Collaboration skills‘the main improvement will come as people get more accustomed to doing serious collaboration online’

Take more responsibility for their own learning ‘if we had organized ourselves (perhaps setting up a team leader/s) we could have achieved and enjoyed the experience a lot more’

Conclusions

• OT12 WAS A HYBRID MOOC• Need for self-motivation• Need for advanced participatory literacy skills• MOOCs operate at the interface of self-

determined and collaborative learning

‘MOOCs don't change the nature of the game; they're playing a different game entirely.’ (Downes 2012)

Thank you for listening!

http://gbl55.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/cck11-man-this-mooc-is-something-else/inspired by José Bogado: la vaca de los sinvaca