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301.More information
Astronomy: State of the Art is a massive, open, online class (MOOC) offered through Udemy by an instructional team at the University of Arizona. With nearly 24,000 enrolled as of early 2015, it is the largest astronomy MOOC available. The astronomical numbers enrolled do not translate into a similar level of engagement. The content consists of 14 hours of video lecture, nearly 1,000 Powerpoint slides, 250 pages of background readings, and 20 podcast interviews with leading researchers. Perhaps in part because of the large amount of course content, the overall completion rate is low, about 3%. However, this number was four times higher for an early cohort of learners who were selected to have a prior interest in astronomy and who took the class in synchronous mode, with new content being added every week. Completion correlates with engagement as measured by posts to the online discussion board. For a subset of learners, social media like Facebook and Twitter provide an additional, important mode of engagement. For the asynchronous learners who have continuously enrolled for the past 15 months, those who complete the course do so quickly, with few persisting longer than two months. The availability of a free completion certificate had no impact of completion rates when it was added midway through the period of data analyzed in this paper. This experiment informs a new offering of an enhanced version of this MOOC via Coursera, along with a co-convened “flipped” introductory astronomy class at the University of Arizona, where the video lectures will be online and class time will be used exclusively for small group labs and hands-on activities. Despite their typically low completion rates, MOOCs have the potential to add significantly to public engagement with science, and they attract a worldwide audience.
Keywords: education, distance education, online learning, online ducation, science, science education, astronomy, astronomy education, MOOC
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For a few years, France has witnessed the development of so-called “alternative” schooling choices. In this article, we focus on the influence of online networks upon these choices. This article is based on various data collecting parents' speeches: public speaking, biographical interviews, informal conversations, online surveys and observation of online forums. We highlight the role of the Internet as a showcase of educative and schooling possibilities and detail the development of parental peer groups. Parents have access to new information, not otherwise available in their close circle, through users' testimonies, but also selected and filtered by peers in order to match their needs as closely as possible in order to make school choices. Without omitting parental predispositions in the decision-making process, there is a reinforcement and confirmation of their educative orientations by these peer groups.
Keywords: sociologie, choix scolaires, parentalité, alternatives, visées expressives, sociology, schooling choices, parenting, alternatives, expressive goals
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307.More information
This article investigates the role of social networking sites (SNS) in the internationalization of small businesses (SE). The multiple case study conducted between 2013 and 2014 shows that SNS support crucial marketing efforts such as the identification of new business opportunities and foster the development of professional and personal relationships with foreign partners. These tools are used by small businesses to communicate at three different levels with their foreign markets (organizational, individual professional and private) and in a cost effective way, saving them resources and allowing them to fasten the internationalisation process.
Keywords: Petites entreprises, réseaux sociaux numériques, internationalisation, relations, distance psychique, Modèle d'Uppsala, Small Business, Social networking sites, Internationalization, Relationships, Psychic Distance, Uppsala Model, pymes, redes sociales digitales, internacionalización, contactos, distancia psíquica, modelo de Uppsala
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