21CLD MOOC: A Triarchic Response to Teacher Professional Learning

A range of “21st century skills” (often referred to as “Key Skills” or “Key Competencies”, ETA, 2010; OECD, 2005; NCCA, 2008), have been identified as necessary to prepare students to live and work in a complex,... [ view full abstract ]

A range of “21st century skills” (often referred to as “Key Skills” or “Key Competencies”, ETA, 2010; OECD, 2005; NCCA, 2008), have been identified as necessary to prepare students to live and work in a complex, connected society. They include skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, self-regulation and information management (Binkley et al., 2012, Partnership for the 21st Century, 2007, 2008).
Development of these skills becomes particularly important in the context of recent Irish developments, including the Digital Strategy for Schools (DES, 2015) which identifies “a need to ensure that ALL teachers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence to integrate ICT into their practice” (p. 7), the Key Skills underpinning the Framework for Junior Cycle (DES, 2015), and the launch of the first national framework for teachers’ professional learning (Cosán) by the Teaching Council of Ireland (2016).

While debate about Massive Open Online Courses is ongoing (Brown, 2016) their popularity continues to grow (Class Central, 2015). A growing number of MOOCs is emerging in the K-12 sector, both for students (ICEF Monitor, 2016) and teachers (such as Vivian et. al, 2014). An oft-cited finding of MOOC research (Ebben & Murphy, 2014) is an apparent disposition of MOOCs towards those who already hold an undergraduate college degree or higher, and in this regard, the relevance of MOOCs as a medium for the continuing teacher professional learning is noteworthy; indeed, Laurillard describes this as “a perfect fit with the capability and the demographic of the current MOOC” (2016, p. 7).

Situated against this backdrop of MOOCs, evolving national policy, and research relating to teacher professional learning (Butler & Leahy, 2015) this paper reports on first-hand experience in designing a MOOC for teachers to support their own and their students’ learning and development of 21st century skills.