Third question today comes from Valerie whose actually asked about seven or eight questions in one but we'll give it a go. First question Valerie asked is about moderation techniques used in the MOOCs and she's broken that down into several. So the first one was how many moderators do we actually have in this one to assist us? >> Okay. Well, there's Simon and myself, so there is two. And we have several technical supports when there is questions in the technical issues- >> Mm. >> Or, if those particular questions about not being able to submit your assignment, that sort of thing more technical oriented. We have our technical team who's answering those questions. So, there's a few people there. >> Mm-hm. >> So to speak, I don't know exactly. And then, we have, for those of you who are on signature track, we have somebody actually from Coursera answering signature track related type questions, so is one. And then we also have a number of teaching assistants who, if you are on the discussion forums, you probably have seen their names and usually their name would actually show up with staff listed right next to it, so you'll know that if it's staff, then they are the teaching assistants. In the discussion forums, the content based discussion forums, and they've been actually fabulous in terms of keeping the discussions going, and responding to a lot of the questions. >> Sorry. I was going to say, we actually have nine TAs, and you can meet them. We have a button on the main menu called meet the instructors. >> It's a virtual meet. >> Well, yes. >> [LAUGH] >> They're not going to come to your house, but you can actually go there and see a bio of and a photo of each of our TAs. So, that will actually help you get to know them if you haven't already. >> Yeah, so they are mostly active in the module type discussion forums while the other staff are more in the technical and the suggestions box. And then- >> Yeah. >> Simon and myself do what we can. >> Yeah. >> Yes, what's your next question. >> [CROSSTALK] going to ask me for the next question? >> What's the next question, Simon? >> I'll ask it to myself. What induction did the moderators receive before they actually started and could this be shared? Well, we kind of actually met with them. We didn't necessarily have a training manual or anything we can share with you. But we met with everybody once we had the course designed. The TAs all went through and tested the course. They got to know the material. Some of them helped in the preparation of the course as well. So that was really good, in terms of familiarity. And we actually sort of did a run through in orientation right at the start. And we have checkpoints as well on the way through. So, it's kind of a real hands-on personal kind of meet. >> Mm-hm. >> To go through and manage the expectations and what we expected of them. >> Good next one. >> Well, I'll ask you this question. >> Sure. >> So how do we actually communicate between ourselves to make sure that we're aware of what's important? >> Well communication is critical. Especially when there are so many people involved in the course. So, a couple of formats, we've been using email definitely so sometimes the TAs will send us an email if there's a particular question in the forums that we think we should address personally. As well as the technical staff, sometimes they do that as well. So, that's really helpful for us because then we know which discussion forums to get in and answer questions right away. And we also have used Google, Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, that sort of thing, to keep track of some of the information and some of the questions that are arising just to keep another form of communication going. >> That's worked quite well so far. Are you answering different types of questions? I think what you meant by that is different TAs and us sticking to the same thing or are we spreading ourselves around. >> Well actually, I think the question is related to the other one in terms of, is moderating for MOOCs different than for a smaller online course? Are you asking- >> I skipped that, sorry. >> Yeah. Are you asking, or answering, different types of questions in the MOOC compared to the other courses that we teach online. And actually that's a pretty good question. >> Yeah, I would say, well first of all, is moderating the MOOC different. In some ways, yes. I found the online courses that I teach, they're a lot smaller. >> Definitely. [LAUGH] >> And it's a lot more sort of, you're engaged a lot more in those personal level discussions and guiding people through the course as a whole, but this MOOC was designed to actually allow you guys to sort of guide yourself with help of those reflective activities and the way we've structured it. So, the flexibility and the scale means that we don't engage as deeply with everybody, because it's impossible. But we do our best to keep in touch with these sorts of videos, engaging in the discussions and Twitter, and that sort of thing. >> And the types of questions that we are answering in the MOOC compared to other courses we teach online are fairly similar. He's answering questions around assignments, whether it's clarification of assignment requirements or whether it's more technical related. Questions around how do I go about using blended learning, for example, or what sort of online tools, I would say that, as Simon said, I definitely not as deeply, particularly in the modules, but the same types of questions for sure. So, I remember teaching an online course, you're engaging with the content type questions, questions related to the articles, or the readings, or the videos that you might have asked your students required to do. So you're engaging and you're trying to provoke some questions and some thoughts. And answering some of those questions as well that they might have, steer them on the right track. But also Q and A type questions. >> For me, it's different because this content is about learning and teaching where as mainly, I usually teach things about design. So, from that perspective, it's very different. >> True. I usually teach about learning and teaching. So. >> There you go. [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] >> And the last question in this multiple question thing is what advice do you have about seeding forums with questions to encourage participation? This is a very interesting one. >> Well, I think instead of creating a discussion forum and giving a topic, week seven engagement strategies. It's really important to actually have a question to start off with. In terms of ask what do you want your students to respond to? And, it helps them form their thoughts. So what I typically do is I try to relate the discussion question with the learning outcome so to speak, of that particular module. So, I relate it back to the readings, I relate it back to the any videos, I relate it back to any content, whatever it may be. But I also mixed it up so that not every week is no, we're going to talk about the reading. It gets kind of mundane if it's the same type. So, one week I might say, you read this reading, you looked at this video, can you apply any of these concepts to your practice? On another week, I might say, okay, you read the reading, you read the reading, you learned about OERs, can you go find some of your own OERs and share them back with the group? So, I mix it up. Sometimes I might say if it's a random evaluation, let's say, all right, we've looked at different evaluation strategies and how would you evaluate your own teaching? Give us some feedback to one another. So, I tried to mix it up so it's not exactly the same type of questions and discussion forums every week. >> And interestingly, just in terms of the mood. That's very important for me for the smaller online courses. >> That's what I'm talking about the small courses. >> With the MOOC itself, we did create, as everyone probably know, the structured forums where we have the modules. Then we actually had specific topics that we started in. And then it was a free for all in terms of who could start topics inside that. >> Sure. >> We did read some feedback from people saying, why did the instructors see these things? Because there's so many of us and we can actually do it ourselves. Conversely, some of the best conversations have come out of some of the questions we've actually asked. >> Yeah. >> Like the TPACK one, and things like that. So, for us, I think, it was really important to make sure that for those that wanted to engage, there was a framework to actually cling onto and be guided by, but we've been very surprised with the level of activity and the self seeding if you like of these discussions. That's been fantastic as well. >> Good. >> Yeah. >> Absolutely. >> There you go. Thanks very much.
