FLAN – Leeds – Meaney – Matthew Effect – 2023-10-23
Talk given by Michael Meaney, Head of Learning at Scale at Multiverse.io, at the tenth anniversary meeting of the FutureLearn Academic Network (FLAN) held at the University of Leeds / online on 23 October 2023.
Abstract
Hegemonic design bias describes a series of processes, constraints, and biases that optimise MOOC production toward the already well educated. At the macro level, the relative importance of knowledge production compared to knowledge dissemination among elite institutions of higher education, the tendency for this focus to produce exclusionary admissions standards, and elitist mimicry resulting in institutional isomorphism all influence the design of MOOCs. At the meso-level, “early-adopter iteration bias” – whereby already educated users make up most MOOC participants and produce the data that researchers and practitioners analyse to iterate and improve MOOCs – skews this design further. A separate but related process, “research-praxis bias,” further prevents MOOC development from meeting the needs of underserved learners. At the micro level, a series of pedagogical, curricular, and technological design processes compound these issues (Meaney 2021; 2023), further entrenching advantage for the well-educated.