Accessibility

The extent to which disabled students can access, on an equal basis with others, the learning and teaching content of an online course in order to achieve the learning outcomes.

Accessibility includes technical aspects such as conforming to Web standards; the provision of alternative formats; and processes for making reasonable adjustments to accommodate individual needs which provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities.

Further information:
– W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
https://www.w3.org/WAI/
– Introduction to Web Accessibility (from the WAI): https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php
– Model Policy for Inclusive ICTs in Education for People with Disabilities : http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002272/227229e.pdf
– Guidelines for Accessible Information (from ICT For Information Accessibility in Learning): http://www.ict4ial.eu/sites/default/files/Guidelines%20for%20Accessible%20Information_EN.pdf and http://www.ict4ial.eu/guidelines-accessible-information
– Web Accessibility (from The EU Internet Handbook) http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/standards/accessibility/index_en.htm
– Guidelines from Universal Design for Learning : http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguideline
– AbilityNet’s Factsheets : https://abilitynet.org.uk/factsheets

Accreditation

The process of formally recognising the learning that has taken place against specific achievement criteria. This can be in the form of credits towards a qualification.

In Higher Education, accreditation is the process by which one institution gains authority to award, and/or gains recognition of, its qualifications from another senior competent authority.

Further information:

– European Accreditation
http://www.european-accreditation.org/

Assessment

The evaluation of the learning that has taken place against a set of achievement criteria. Assessment can take different forms, such as formative “ongoing” feedback and summative exams or coursework.

Formative assessment is aimed primarily at determining the strengths and weaknesses of a student’s work, with the objective of improvement. Formative assessment demands feedback to the student in some form and may, but will not always, contribute to summative assessment.

Summative assessment is aimed at evaluating student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

Peer assessment/review is an assessment/review of students’ work carried out by other students.

Self-assessment is an evaluation of one’s own abilities.

Asynchronous

Not occurring at the same time; for example, a discussion in an online forum may not result in participants engaging at the same time as each other.

Asynchronous learning is a general term used to describe forms of education, instruction, and learning that do not occur in the same place or at the same time.

Attractors

A characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts. Often used in the context of enablers and drivers of education.

Blended

A mix of online instruction using different media and face-to-face teaching.

Business Model

A theoretical model used in science and business contexts.

Although the concept was developed in the context of for-profit businesses, it is now applied to any type of organisation, including for-profit, non-profit, and governmental.

There are many versions of business models: Al-Debei (2008) identified four primary dimensions while Yoram (2014) comprised the following three components: (1) Customer Value Proposition; (2) Infrastructure (both resources and processes); and (3) Financial Aspects.

Business Model Canvas (BMC)

A strategic management template for developing new business models.

Further information:

– Wikipedia: Business Model Canvas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Model_Canvas

C-MOOC

A cMOOC or "connectivist MOOC" creates a network of participants who find and exchange resources with each other. The knowledge is distributed and partly self-generated, and the coherence of the course as well as its progression are constructed by the learner. The participants can enrich the MOOC, and the community helps to construct and distribute the content.

Certification

The formal recognition that an individual has demonstrated a proficiency within, and comprehension of, a specific body of knowledge.

Collaborative learning

Learning through the exchange and sharing of information and opinions among a peer group.

Completion rate

The number of learners who earned a certificate of completion or ‘passed’ the course.

Connectivism

A learning theory that emphasises a "social" network at the centre of the approach. It has been used widely in the more experimental MOOCs, also known as cMOOCs.

Content

Digital teaching material provided to learners. Online learning content can include text, audio, video, animations, simulations and more.

Continuous Professional Development

The means by which people at work maintain, improve and broaden their knowledge and skills and develop competences required in their professional lives.

Copyleft

The practice of offering people the right to freely distribute copies and modified versions of a work with the stipulation that the same rights be preserved in derivative works down the line.

Copyright

A legal means of protecting an author’s work.

Corporate entrepreneurship

The entrepreneurial behaviour exhibited by the company itself. Corporate Entrepreneurship is a process of creation of new businesses, and other innovative activities, such as development of new products, services, technologies, administrative techniques, strategies and competitive postures.

Course

A unit of study, typically with a workload of more than 25–30 hours, that includes: (a) a study guide/syllabus with instructions on how to learn from the presented materials and interactions; (b) educational content, which may include video, audio, text, games (including simulations), social media and animation; (c) possibilities for interaction, such as social media channels, forums, blogs or RSS readers to build a learning community; (d) activities/tasks, tests and feedback, which can be automatically generated (e.g., quizzes), as well as peer feedback and/or general feedback from academic staff; (e) exams, including some kind of recognition options.

Credential

A term sometimes used to refer to a qualification (or partial qualification).

Credit

The currency providing a measure of learning outcomes achieved in a notional time at a given level.

Curriculum

A broad term covering both academic and subject requirements, and the processes for organising and managing the teaching and learning.

Digital badge

A digital assessment and credentialing mechanism that is used to acknowledge the learning that has taken place.

Badges are designed to make visible and validate learning in both formal and informal settings, and hold the potential to help transform where and how learning is valued.

Digital library

A library that has collections with electronic materials such as eJournals, online databases, and eBooks.

Digital literacy

The knowledge, skills and behaviours used in a broad range of digital devices.

Digital literacy is about competently using digital devices to achieve goals related to work, employability, learning and leisure.

Diversity

The inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, colour, religion, socioeconomic stratum, sexual orientation, etc.

Drivers

Institutional drivers define influences/trends that impact on the prioritisation of activities.

Dropout

A student who withdraws before completing a course of instruction.

E-learning

Learning facilitated through the use of information and communication technologies. There are several facets to eLearning including hardware (computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, etc.), digital resources (the Web, materials presented via Virtual Learning Environments, online libraries, etc.), software (tutorials, ‘office’ packages, etc.), and online communication tools (email, chat, forums etc.).

ECTS (European Credit Transfer System)

European Credit Transfer System: A transferable and transparent credit-based system for higher education courses enabling students to move universities and have past credit-bearing courses recognised.

Enablers

The structures and mechanisms used to respond effectively to institutional drivers.

Entrepreneurship

The act of setting up and managing a business venture along with any risks in the hope of making a profit. It is also perceived as a universal set of skills and attitudes that can be applied to undertakings in every context – new business, company project or social venture.

Equity capital

The part of the share capital of a company owned by ordinary shareholders. The value of equity capital is calculated by estimating the current market value of everything owned by the company from which the total of all liabilities is subtracted. On the balance sheet of the company, equity capital is listed as stockholders’ equity or owners’ equity.

Evaluation

The act of systematically determining the importance, effectiveness or value of something.

Flipping

A teaching approach that ‘flips’ the use of the classroom. This is usually accomplished by moving direct instruction online; for example, through the use of videos which students study at home, and using classroom time for interactivity, for example group work or discussion.

Formal education

A form of learning delivered by trained teachers in a systemic intentional way within a school, college, university or other educational institution.

Freemium

A business model in which a basic service or product is available to users for free, but additional services and features must be paid for. A well-known example of a freemium business model is Skype, which provides free computer-to-computer calling and sells premium products in the form of voicemail, conference calls and worldwide connection to landlines and mobile phones.

GCI

The Global Competitiveness Index integrates the macro-economic and the micro-business aspects of competitiveness into a single index, which is made up of over 110 variables, structured in a framework and a corresponding set of indicators in three principal domains (pillars) and twelve sub-domains.

The Global Competitiveness Report is a comprehensive assessment of countries’ economic competitiveness.

HEI

Higher Education Institution (HEI) is an establishment providing higher education and recognised by the competent authorities as belonging to its system of higher education.

Higher education

Degree-level education provided at universities or similar educational institutions. It encompasses all types of courses of study, or sets of courses (programmes), training, or training for research at the post-secondary level which are recognised by the relevant authorities as belonging to its higher education system.

Informal learning

A form of learning (often self-directed) that has no set objective in terms of learning outcomes.

Innovation

A new idea, product, or method or a change that creates a new dimension of performance. innovation is often also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs.

Instructional

Designed to teach someone how to do something.

Intercultural

Relating to or involving more than one culture.

Interculturalization

A basic concept of today’s society and a process through which an organisation changes its behaviour to become culturally neutral.

Interoperability

The degree to which products, programs, etc. can be used together, or the quality of being able to be used together.

Intrapreneurship

The act of behaving like an entrepreneur while working within a large organisation.

Key skills

The essential skills which people need in order to be effective members of a modern society and a flexible, adaptable and competitive workforce. Examples of key skills are communication, collaboration and group working, literacy, numeracy, use of information technology and knowing how to learn.

Learner-centred

A method of teaching that shifts the focus of instruction from the teacher to the student.

Learning analytics

The measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs.

Learning outcomes

The specific intellectual and practical skills gained and tested by the successful completion of a unit, course or whole programme of study. They take the form of statements which indicate what a learner should have achieved in respect of both knowledge and skills at the end of a given course or programme.

Learning platform

An integrated set of online services that provides teachers and learners with the information, tools and resources to support learning.

Learning to learn

The ability to pursue and organise one’s own learning , either individually or in groups, in accordance with one’s own needs, and awareness of methods and opportunities.

Licensing

The process of giving or getting permission to have, produce, or use something that another person or company has created or owns.

Lifelong learning

All learning activity undertaken throughout a person’s lifetime, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence, within a personal, civic, social and/or employment related perspective.

LMS

A Learning Management System is a software application used to plan, implement and access learning content. An LMS can register users, track courses in a catalogue, record data from learners, and provide reports to management.

MOOC

A massive, open, online course designed for large numbers of participants that can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an Internet connection, are typically open to everyone without entry qualifications and offer a full/complete course experience online, for free.

MOOC platform

An institution or organisation that creates and publishes a MOOC. In many cases these are HEIs, but MOOCs are also offered by various agencies, social enterprises and organisations.

MOOC provider

An institution or organisation that creates and publishes a MOOC. In many cases these are HEIs, but MOOCs are also offered by various agencies, social enterprises and organisations.

Non-formal education

A collective term for all forms of learning and education which happens in all fields outside of formal educational systems.

Non-formal learning

A collective term for all forms of learning and education which happens in all fields outside of formal educational systems.

OCW

Open Course Ware: course materials created by an educational institution and published online for free, and under an open licence.

OER

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property licence that permits their free use and repurposing by others.

Off campus

To be away from a university or college campus.

On campus

To attend lectures, tutorials and participate in other activities located on a university or college campus.

Online course

A course that is available to learners online. For example, a course where most or all of the content is delivered online (>80% of content is delivered online); or all course activity is done online – there are no required face-to-face sessions within the course and no requirements for on-campus activity.

Online education

An umbrella term used to describe any education or training that occurs via the internet. In online education, learning is a result of online-facilitated experiences that are not constrained by time and/or distance. The label “online” applies to both the delivery of course material and the teacher-learner and learner-learner interactions.

Online learning

An umbrella term used to describe any education or training that occurs via the internet. In online education, learning is a result of online-facilitated experiences that are not constrained by time and/or distance. The label “online” applies to both the delivery of course material and the teacher-learner and learner-learner interactions.

Open Access

To be available to all. In the context of education it refers to broadening access of education

Open content

Creative or scholarly work that can be copied, modified and shared under an open licence.

Open Course Ware

Course materials created by an educational institution and published online for free, and under an open licence.

Open Education

A collective term for the institutional practices and initiatives that broaden access to learning and training outside of traditional education systems.

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property licence that permits their free use and repurposing by others.

Open licence

A type of licence that grants permissions beyond those offered by standard copyright law.

Open licensing

The use of open licences, a type of licence that grants permissions beyond those offered by standard copyright law.

Pedagogy

The science, method and practice of teaching & learning.

Peer

A person who is the same age or has the same social position or the same abilities as other people in a group.

Public domain

The state of belonging or being available to the public as a whole and not subject to copyright or legal restrictions.

QMS

A Quality Management System (QMS) is a formalised system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organisation’s activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis.

Qualification

An official completion of a course or programme of courses; any degree, diploma or other certificate issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of a higher education programme.

Quality assurance

The maintenance of a desired level of quality in a service or product. In education this implies the inclusion of the quality of teaching, resources, assessments, etc., as well as the quality of the institution.

Reciprocal teaching

An instructional activity in the form of a dialogue between teachers and students with the aim of collaborative construction of meaning.

Recognition

The act or process of recognising or being recognised. In education, this could be an acknowledgement of an achievement, such as course completion, by a competent authority.

Retention

The condition of retaining (keeping) something. In the context of MOOC this refers to the number of learners who continue to study a course rather than dropping out.

Self study

A way of learning by studying something by oneself.

Self-paced

A form of instruction that proceeds based on the learner’s response; for example, a self-paced course enables a learner to start and finish as quickly or as slowly as they like.

Student-centred

A teaching approach that places the student at the centre. In learner-centred courses students construct their own learning from a rich environment, and share and communicate it with others; they should not simply focus on the transmission of content knowledge to the student.

Synchronous

Existing or occurring at the same time.

Unbundling

A process of breaking up education provision into smaller parts, which can then be offered at a different scale and cost.

Validation

The process of officially ensuring that learning has taken place.

Verification

The process of establishing the accuracy or validity of something.

Virtual laboratory

An interactive environment for creating and conducting simulated experiments.

VLE

A virtual learning environment (VLE) is a system for delivering learning materials to learners via the web. The main components of a VLE system include curriculum mapping (breaking curriculum into sections that can be assigned and assessed), student tracking, online support for both teachers and students, electronic communication (e-mail, threaded discussions, chat), and links to external curriculum resources.

xMOOC

A MOOC which follows a traditional course structure. An xMOOC focuses on the transmission of knowledge didactically; i.e., it is fairly close to the classic pedagogical model used in lecture theatres. The designer of the MOOC predefines the learning objectives and how knowledge acquisition will occur. xMOOC are easier to implement at scale than cMOOC.

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Massive Open Online Courses for Business Learning Copyright © 2019 by BizMOOC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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