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Citation: Manallack DT, Yuriev E (2016) Ten Simple Rules for Developing a MOOC. PLoS Comput Biol 12(10): e1005061. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005061

Editor: Fran Lewitter, Whitehead Institute, UNITED STATES

Published: October 20, 2016

Copyright: © 2016 Manallack, Yuriev. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: No funding supported this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

If you have not heard of the word MOOC, it refers to Massive Open Online Courses, and their appeal has raised the interest of most tertiary institutions. MOOCs have rapidly become "the new black" for online learning [ 1]. The first course emerged in 2008 from the University of Manitoba ( http://cck11.mooc.ca/), and the term MOOC was coined at that time by Dave Cornier ( http://davecormier.com/edblog/2008/10/02/the-cck08-mooc-connectivism-course-14-way/). An ever-increasing number of courses from major universities with a range of course providers is now established, and new ones are coming out on a weekly basis.

At Monash University, we recently completed and delivered a MOOC (the "Science of Medicines") through the FutureLearn platform ( https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-science-of-medicines). The course has been very successful (total enrollment of 28,500 learners) and has run five times. To facilitate the development of MOOCs, we have put together a set of ten simple rules based on our experiences to give you tips on what to look out for and what to avoid. It must be said, however, that this is not an exercise for the faint-hearted, as MOOC development entails a considerable amount of work. Within the world of MOOCs, there are both introductory and intermediate level courses. Our rules primarily relate to the former and are aimed at academics; however, many of the principles are in common.

Rule 3: Select a MOOC Provider

Going it alone will probably involve a lot of work and likely won't play to the strengths of your organization. As such, you should pin yourself to an existing platform/provider (e.g., Coursera, edX, FutureLearn. For the full list, see https://www.mooc-list.com/). Start by exploring, and focus on what the provider offers to the MOOC developers. For example, do they give advice or assistance on structuring a MOOC, quality control, captioning, and hosting services? Once a provider is chosen, a dialogue can be started to gather details and determine whether there is an alignment between their organization and your educational vision. If legal agreements are needed (e.g., royalty sharing), then an appropriate amount of time should be allocated for procuring advice and finalizing contracts.

Rule 6: Design Your MOOC

Clearly the design task itself is a huge topic and cannot be fully covered in this set of rules. Depending on the MOOC provider, they are likely to have a set format for their courses. This is an advantage, as it specifies valuable guidelines on videos, quizzes, discussion boards, polls, and so forth. Each person generating the teaching material then works to a common framework. This not only benefits the educators producing the material but greatly helps learners who get used to a particular style. Estimated time commitment for the learner is another vital consideration for the design to render the MOOC enjoyable and achievable.

One more thing to consider is what will set your MOOC apart from the rest. What is special about your team? For example, in our "Science of Medicines" MOOC, we have used videos of characters inhabiting a fictional village named Pharmville to start a conversation about a range of ailments and corresponding treatments. Learners could relate to these characters and were motivated to participate in discussions sharing personal experiences. We also decided not to solely use a standard multiple-choice question approach to get learners to revise. Instead, we invited them to do crosswords, and this turned out to be an engaging and effective revision technique.

Finally, the design should consider the level at which the course is pitched. MOOC participants will have a wide educational background, and with such a diverse set of people, there is a need to carefully explain concepts, provide additional resource material, and avoid jargon. If not-they will soon move on. The language used and delivery style must be well crafted and edited by a professional to ensure it is consistent and understandable. Captioning is another important resource for non-English speaking participants or those with hearing impairments and will require careful checking to avoid errors. Employing professional videographers with graphics skills also facilitates the entire process. If you are filming multiple sections of the MOOC on one day, it is advisable that you have multiple changes of wardrobe so that keen-eyed participants notice the change of clothes.

Rule 9: Manage the MOOC

The moment you launch your MOOC, participants will start "talking." The discussion forums will need to be moderated, and other activities will require attention. Communication channels and contact people need to be fully functional at this time. Some elements of the MOOC may require ongoing refinement. But more importantly, questions from learners and debates between them will likely arise. This will require further moderation and regular feedback. Educators, responsive and eager to provide feedback, make for happy and appreciative learners to avoid the MOOC appearing "dead." And remember, there is always someone on the planet that is wide awake and learning from your MOOC-it is a 24 hr/day enterprise.

Another foible is that the developers, as experts in their field, may have inadvertently introduced difficult concepts that require further clarification. By quickly putting together short videos while the MOOC is running, these misunderstandings can be mitigated (e.g., the YouTube channel associated with our MOOC https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGp8ENReT_kw6YRPm33MIVQ).

Rule 10: MOOC Postmortem-Debrief

As the MOOC approaches the release date, the MOOC provider can continually communicate enrollment numbers. They will ultimately inform the institution about various metrics such as demographics, length of time in the course, completion rates, and so forth. These can be used to compare against other offerings and be discussed internally by your MOOC team. Data concerning the demographics of the participants at the start and the end of the course provides an insight into those who persist through the entire MOOC. Of interest is their prior educational experience, which can help in the fine tuning of subject areas that were found difficult to assimilate.

Of prime importance is the need to recognize the involvement of educators, as these exercises take up a considerable amount of time that detracts from other activities. Lastly, the MOOC doesn't die there. If successful and well received, it is expected that the MOOC will be rerun periodically, which again means moderators need to be summoned.

Incorporating MOOC materials into your regular courses is another benefit following its development. Moreover, the resources can be used to develop graphics material and video vignettes to promote your courses to future undergraduates.

Overall, developing a MOOC is onerous; but in a team environment and with a structured framework, they provide excellent motivation for creating engaging teaching materials designed to enlighten as many as possible.

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Citation: Manallack DT, Yuriev E (2016) Ten Simple Rules for Developing a MOOC. PLoS Comput Biol 12(10): e1005061. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005061 Editor: Fran Lewitter, Whitehead Institute, UNITED STATES Published: October 20, 2016 Copyright: © 2016 Manallack, Yuriev.

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Clase 5 Orientador de aprendizaje

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desde la perspectiva
de estudiantes universitarios

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tradicional encuentra las siete diferencias

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Oímos hablar mucho de los MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). Como nos decía hace ya nada menos que tres años, en este mismo blog Abdelkader Es-slami, están de moda.

Pero a veces nos resulta difícil saber si MOOC es lo mismo que eLearning o es otra cosa distinta. Y, la verdad es que se parecen y solapan...pero hay alguna diferencia.

¿Queréis saber cuáles son? Os propongo un juego, el de las siete diferencias.

Intentad encontrar en la imagen superior, igual que si de uno de esos juegos infantiles se tratase, las siete diferencias entre MOOC y eLearning tradicional.

¿Lo habéis conseguido?

¿Os rendís?

Está bien, no os sintais mal A mí tampoco me ha resultado fácil, pero con la ayuda de Inge de Waard y su libro " MOOC Yourself" ', he podido localizar esas siete diferencias.
Diferencia 1: la democratización de las plataformas o el DIY llevado al eLearning
El eLearning tradicional suele basarse, desde un punto de vista técnico, en una plataforma especializada, lo que se denomina Learning Management System o LMS, gestionada por una institución educativa. Aunque los MOOC pueden utilizar estas plataformas, también hacen un uso creciente de plataformas abiertas como social media. Además, existen alternativas para que personas individuales o pequeños grupos puedan construirse su propio MOOC siguiendo la tendencia tan 2.0 de desplazamiento del poder a la periferia de la red, hacia los usuarios, y también la filosofía DIY ( Do It Yourself) tan 2.0, tan maker ...
Diferencia 2: la necesidad de habilidades digitales
En parte por esa misma apertura, especialmente por el apoyo en social media, se supone en el alumno la existencia de un mínimo de habilidades digitales que le permitan moverse cómodamente en este entorno.
Diferencia 3: el tamaño de los grupos
La primera letra del acrónimo MOOC es la M de massive, es decir, masivo. Ese apelativo no es gratuito. Los MOOC se dirigen en abierto a todo el que desee acceder a ellos. Al contrario que en un modelo más tradicional donde, en genera,l el número de alumnos se circunscribe a un curso, grupo, empresa o institución, los MOOC están "pensados para el mundo", son abiertos, no tienen límites. Esto impone necesidades relacionadas con los tiempos, el feedback, etc
Diferencia 4: nuevos modelos de certificación
Con los MOOC se abren nuevas ideas en cuanto a la certificación de la realización de los cursos y del aprendizaje. Si en el eLearning tradicional las certificaciones y titulaciones otorgadas suelen formar parte de un currículum gestionado por una institución educativa, en los MOOC se exploran nuevas formas como los badges informales (importando ideas propias de la "gamificación"), acreditaciones vocacionales, etc
Diferencia 5: la facilitación más que enseñanza
Si en los modelos eLearning tradicionales, herederos de un sistema educativo "analógico", el profesor está en el centro de la actividad educativa como emisor del conocimiento y experto en la materia, en los MOOC, quizá también como reflejo de cambios en el propio sistema educativo, se apunta cada vez más a un formato del instructor como facilitador, como un ayudante al lado del estudiante, y permiten más libertad en la configuración del itinerario formativo según los intereses del propio estudiante.
Diferencia 6: foco en el estudiante
En los MOOCs el aprendizaje es responsabilidad del estudiante, no del instructor. De nuevo, esto puede no ser más que el reflejo digital de una realidad pedagógica cambiante y que avanza hacia modelos más interactivos y más centrados en el estudiante, se enfocan hacia el denominado Self-Directed Learning (SDL) en el que el estudiante regula el aprendizaje en función de sus propias estrategias.
Diferencia 7: la naturalidad
El conjunto del planteamiento de los MOOC, su formato, y la curiosidad que generan, conducen a un mayor compromiso por parte del estudiante y, en conjunto, a una relación más natural con el entorno on line de aprendizaje.

Y éstas son las siete diferencias que Inge de Waard identifica.

Y, ahora, una pregunta al margen: ¿has tenido la curiosidad de probar tu mism@ a encontrar las siete diferencias en la imagen de este artículo?

¿Te has dado cuenta de algo?

Sí. Eso es. Hay más de siete diferencias.

Y es que, las que hemos visto podrían ser las siete diferencias entre el MOOC y el eLearning tradicional, pero se trata de un entorno tan novedoso y cambiante, diría que incluso tan opinable, que muy bien podrían aparecer otras diferencias.

Si quieres estar al tanto de ellas, no dejes de explorar y de buscar. Al fin y al cabo, se trata de aprender...

Imagen de cabecera: Alastair Creelman

Imagen de las diferencias: Blog Re-Educad@s

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MOOC frente a eLearning tradicional: encuentra las siete diferencias - Think Big Empresas

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Oímos hablar mucho de los MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). Como nos decía hace ya nada menos que tres años, en este mismo blog Abdelkader Es-slami, están de moda. Pero a veces nos resulta difícil saber si MOOC es lo mismo que eLearning o es otra cosa distinta.

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luces y sombras

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y una alternativa complementaria: La individualización del aprendizaje y de la ayuda pedagógica

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