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Giving Flexible Learners a Head Start on Higher Education: Designing and Implementing a Pre-induction Socialisation MOOC

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Digital Education: Out to the World and Back to the Campus (EMOOCs 2017)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10254))

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Abstract

This paper reports on a five week pre-induction socialisation MOOC that facilitates successful transition into Higher Education for flexible learners. In this context a broad definition is adopted of flexible learners, which includes adult learners in part-time and/or online/distance education. A number of national and international reports have emphasised the importance of bringing more adult learners into higher education, and adult learners have a preference for flexible programmes. The MOOC targets prospective learners during early parts of the study life-cycle, when they are considering entry into higher education and may benefit from advice about how to effectively prepare. The MOOC utilises a number of the OERs developed by the Student Success Toolbox project, and combines these readiness tools with supporting materials in order to deliver a comprehensive pre-induction socialisation course. A small pilot ran from the 15th Aug–19th Sept 2016. 150 people enrolled with 50 going on to receive a certificate of completion. Those selected to take part in this pilot were prospective flexible learners planning to start courses in Ireland in 2016/2017 and a cohort of approximately 70 learners from Kiron, an organisation supporting refugees in accessing higher education. The feedback received, albeit limited by the numbers of respondents, indicates that a course that uses the OERs developed by the Students Success Toolbox project, can have a positive impact on prospective flexible learners.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Digital Learning, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    James Brunton, Mark Brown, Eamon Costello, Orna Farrell & Conor Mahon

Authors
  1. James Brunton
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  2. Mark Brown
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  3. Eamon Costello
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  4. Orna Farrell
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  5. Conor Mahon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to James Brunton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Leganés (Madrid), Spain

    Carlos Delgado Kloos

  2. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Patrick Jermann

  3. Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, San Joaquín, Santiago de Chile, Chile

    Mar Pérez-Sanagustín

  4. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Daniel T. Seaton

  5. University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

    Su White

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Brunton, J., Brown, M., Costello, E., Farrell, O., Mahon, C. (2017). Giving Flexible Learners a Head Start on Higher Education: Designing and Implementing a Pre-induction Socialisation MOOC. In: Delgado Kloos, C., Jermann, P., Pérez-Sanagustín, M., Seaton, D., White, S. (eds) Digital Education: Out to the World and Back to the Campus. EMOOCs 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10254. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59044-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59044-8_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-59043-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-59044-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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