David T. Manallack; Elizabeth Yuriev

“ Promote the MOOC The MOOC provider will be your partner here to promote the MOOC with an international outlook. Within your own institution, there must also be a strategy to inform people at a national level with press releases and through alumni networks. Given the volume of work that went into developing the MOOC and the passion involved, you need bang for your buck. Promotion also harks back to the purpose of the course. ”

“ Instead of lecturing to a class of 100 individuals, you can reach many thousands of people, often on a topic close to your heart. One should also keep in mind the broad diversity of participants who will differ considerably in their educational background, age, and culture. ”

“ The MOOC can’t teach an entire degree in a matter of a few weeks, so keeping it enjoyable, punchy, and interesting is vital. The decision on the topic needs considerable thought to keep future participants engaged. Again, the educational vision needs to drive this to carefully select the material to deliver. Personal passions to teach the world everything close to your heart will need to be curtailed and put in terms of “what specifically would enlighten them.” ”

“ In some cases, the MOOC is oriented to showcasing the educational strengths of an institution and represents, in effect, a branding exercise. Academics called in to create the MOOC need to debate the learning objectives and its purpose for their own clarity and motivation. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 7: Pilot Test Your MOOC Quality control is the job of all people involved and will be heavily scrutinized by the provider. Consistency of style, graphics, and cross-examination of material will help, but errors are always made. The aim of pilot testing is to pick up problems before releasing the MOOC to the public. ”

“ This will also help educators who will be invited to design the MOOC to buy into the development process.
Rule 5: Determine Governance From the earliest murmurings of your MOOC development, several people will have been involved. For efficiency, there needs to be an established team with clearly defined roles. This will include several academics to both write and present material, a videographer and video editor, a graphics artist, project manager, text editor, and solicitor (where needed) . Budgets and schedules must be assembled including tasks to be completed, meeting dates, etc. ”