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Designing a MOOC can be intimidating, especially if you are not an educator or educational technologist by profession. Here we present some key pointers and practical advice to get you headed in the right direction.
Top Tips
Here are our recommendations for things to think about in the process of putting together a MOOC:
1. Do your homework regarding the choice of topic(s) and your target group(s)
Do some research into the kinds of MOOC that are already available in the area of interest. (You could start with MOOC aggregators like Class Central or MOOClist and then scan the major MOOC platforms, but be aware that not all MOOCs are listed there.) Speak to your target group, the potential learners: What do they think? What would they need? How would they like to learn that topic? Speak to decision-makers and multipliers: What do they think? What do they need? (e.g. look at the competence framework of companies). If it is not possible to engage directly with learners or companies, apply market/customer analysis tools, such as Personas or the Empathy Map.
2. Carefully select the platform which fits to your type of MOOC as well as to your audience
Is the platform you choose going to give you all the functionality you require? Does it support any collaboration activities (if desired)? Is the sign-up procedure simple enough for your target audience? Is the platform professional enough for your target audience? What about accessibility of content on different (mobile) devices and for different types of users (age, profession, sector, experience, education, confidentiality, security, legal and technical issues, specific needs etc.)? Who owns the uploaded content? Consider openly licensed content and keeping track of assets via an asset log.
3. Design your MOOC to engage appropriately with as many learners in your target audience(s) as possible
Consider that familiarity with MOOCs varies among learners. Be clear about who your target audience is and understand their learning outcomes. Consider providing MOOC content in multiple languages (which can incur additional costs and effort). Include examples or activities which reflect specific target audience(s) localities/circumstances. Try to offer additional community building activities, which differentiate your MOOC from others (e.g. closing event, outtakes from videos etc.)
4. Use educational design tools and well-approved didactical approaches
Familiarize yourself with different tools. Choose an appropriate learning design framework (and adapt it to your needs if appropriate). This will help you structure the development process and ensure your MOOC delivers on the intended learning outcomes.
5. Get early feedback by running pre-tests with your target Group
Estimate the required time to complete the MOOC and specific activities upfront and test it with your target group. If possible, let representatives of your target group try out an early prototype of your MOOC in front of you and observe them. Collect your observations and improve your MOOC design accordingly.
6. Focus on the first week and “ice-breaking activities”
Provide inviting and engaging first activities: easy to accomplish and clearly related to the subject area. The entry barrier should usually be low (except maybe for some highly specialized MOOCs), maybe integrate some “fun” element if it fits to your target group. Incorporate an interactive element and try to stimulate a discussion (less applicable to self-paced MOOCs). You can easily raise the level of difficulty in activities later on in the course. Carefully consider what fits to your target group and topic!
7. Strike a good balance between different forms of activities and resources
MOOC learners appreciate a mix of reading, watching diverse video materials, doing self-tests, quizzes, taking part in discussions etc. This diversification helps to cater different learning types/styles, it potentially introduces deeper learning processes and a self-reinforcing learning loop. Multimedia is important, but only if the content is good. Include links to a wide range of resources (including non-English websites and other materials learners might find useful) so that the learners can deepen their knowledge by themselves.
8. Make impactful multimedia content
Stick to the point: shorten videos to cover essential content only.If a topic cannot be explained in a 3-5 min video, split it into two or more “digestible” parts. (It makes a huge difference for your learners!) Make sure your videos feature diverse resources and examples. Avoid long welcome and farewell procedures in the videos, and don’t repeat what has already written/communicated. For videos added while the MOOC is running (such as weekly summaries), the learners do not necessarily expect the same high quality of the video recording (but typically do expect the learning content of these videos to be of good quality).
9. Hints for designing multiple-choice assessments
Consider running pre-tests with people unfamiliar with the topic and incorporate their feedback, making the questions meaningful and directly aligned with the course’s content. Avoid vague wording, double negatives, and unclear or complex answers (though sometimes vagueness can be a strategy to promote more active learning in some cases.) Consider providing self-training options with similar questions that learner can train and get familiar with your style of multiple-choice questioning.
10. Seek to reuse existing content
Many, many openly licensed useful materials are available and can be reused in a new MOOC. Ensure that you take time to review existing content and assess whether it can be integrated successfully into your new MOOC. While a MOOC with a lot of external content potentially allows for faster implementation, this will potentially require higher levels of maintenance in the long-term. The possibility of “link rot” and external resources being removed or links not working anymore means that solutions or alternatives may need to be found. However, in the instance of openly licensed resources re-use also enables the original material to be tailored to the context and specific goals and target group of your MOOC. i.e., reused materials (videos, educational material, assignments and quizzes) can be adjusted to the course, made available on the MOOC platform and include a reference to the original resource. When existing videos cannot be re-edited, it is advisable to only let the video play relevant sections instead of the whole video (although this creates interdependencies with external sites and needs regular checking/permanent maintenance).
Lessons Learned in BizMOOC
The following list are ‘lessons learned’ from the implementation and evaluation of three pilot MOOC within the BizMOOC project (See Chapter 20).
- Platform choice and functionality are important considerations when developing a MOOC. Ensure that you assess the platform and that it meets your needs and has the functionality you need for the course.
- Not every course platform is applicable for each type of MOOC.
- Sign-up procedures should not be too complicated and long (e.g. only a few mandatory requirements such as name, e-mail and password plus some optional such as birth date, language, location etc.).
- Note that MOOCs are about massive numbers of learners participating in a course. Aligning with regional, national or even global platforms helps to cater to the needs and quality expectations of a (critical) business audience and potentially attract a lot of learners. This is an important consideration alongside the required functionalities of the platform.
- Accessibility of content and assets (such as videos) on different devices is important.
- Transcripts can be essential as many learners are not native English speakers, may not have good/reliable connectivity or prefer this format over video/audio. Build in time and resource to subtitle videos and ensure that text is in a screen reader compatible format.
- Design tools and well-approved didactical approaches (in our case Learning Design by the Open University UK and the e-Learning concepts by Gilly Salmon) facilitated the course production process well. See good practice for examples.
- Choice of topic and relevance for target group: A needs analysis with desk research about existing offers (MOOCs and other formats), with the targeted learners and qualified experts about the intended course topic, their expectations and how they would like to learn is critical.
- Familiarity with MOOCs varies among learners and should be considered both in terms of design and presentation of course content. Moreover, not all are self-directed learners.
- A diversity of activities is appreciated by learners (reading, watching videos, quizzes, forum discussions, etc.) and potentially deepens the learning process.
- Multimedia is appreciated by the learners (but only if high-quality in terms of content and technical features)
- Summaries of each module are appreciated, but only if they stick to the point and provide a good recap with minor new elements. This could be done at the end of each section.
- Completion rates are just one indicator for the success of a course, consider also other indicators such as the learners´ engagement with content, the quality of their contributions, their feedback, expert feedback and review, level of participation over the weeks, etc.
- In addition, become aware of your learner´s intention beforehand (e.g., by a pre-course survey) and contrast your success measurement with this (e.g. with learning analytics, with a corresponding post-course survey, with follow-up interviews)
- Multiple choice questions are not easy to design, especially for soft topics. Important to allow plenty of time to design meaningful quiz questions, run pre-tests and ensure you are developing your assessment in conjunction with your course content
- Re-use of materials with open licenses works to some extent, but only when relevant and useful materials are carefully selected.
- MOOC closing events are a good opportunity for an informal reflection, but need to be planned and announced in advance (e.g. at the start of the course) with a description of what to expect, how the event will work etc.
- Outtakes from video production are not essential, but they add a more informal and personal touch to the online experience for the learners and the development team.
- Additional On-Site Exams are only taken by very few learners, but can be useful when the MOOC is part of University course/program and enables students to gain additional ECTS points.