TOOLS & PLATFORMS → TOOLS → FRAMEWORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOOCs → FRAMEWORK STEPS 

Step 1: Develop a core team
Step 2: Define the target audience
Step 3: Develop intended learning outcomes
Step 4: Decide your course structure
Step 5: Decide modes of delivery and potential contributors
Step 6: Develop course content
Step 7: Plan course facilitation

Step 1: Develop a core team

The core team will be the individuals that will work on the project ideally from start to finish. This team should, at the very least, consist of individuals with the following:

• Subject matter expertise

• Pedagogy expertise

• Knowledge of (or willingness to learn) how to use your chosen online platform

To facilitate an efficient process, it is also important to ensure there is adequate senior buy-in for the project. This buy-in can raise the profile of the course within the organisation and fast track its production.

Step 2: Define the target audience

Who is likely to take this course? Will the course be open to a specialised group or the general public? To develop a course that speaks to the diverse needs of its students, early discussions on who the students will be is essential. The following questions can help in defining the target audience.

1. Who are the students for whom you’re designing this course or who will be interested in taking a course on this topic? (e.g. what is their age, cultural background etc)?

2. Where are they in their overall course of study on this topic?

3. What physical setting might they be in when engaging with the course (e.g. noisy environments, public spaces)?

4. What devices or connectivity might they have access to?
   
   
5. How digitally literate are they?
   
   
6. Have they previously learned online (will you need to include guidance to support time management for online learning if it is new to them)?
   
   
7. What emotional factors or external stressors might impact their ability to succeed on the course?

These questions are designed to enable a better understanding of your target audience. This will then inform a course design that is tailored to the needs of the student – supporting greater likelihood of success on the course. The questions included above are just a guide and may need adapting depending on your context.

Step 3: Develop intended learning outcomes

Intended learning outcomes are sometimes called course objectives. This is what students will be able to do on completion of the course. As an example, the intended learning outcomes for the MOOC, COVID-19 Tackling the Novel Coronavirus were:

1. Describe how Covid-19 emerged and was identified
   
   
2. Discuss public health measures for COVID-19 applicable in different contexts
   
   
3. Summarise what is needed to inform the response to COVID-19 going forward

These were the learning outcomes for the whole course. It is also helpful to have intended learning outcomes for each individual activity in the course. A sample of the intended learning outcomes for each Step (activity) on the MOOC, COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus is included here as an example.

The table below is designed to support development of the intended learning outcomes for your course. Start by defining the level of study – e.g. secondary school, university level. Then look at ‘what students do’ at that level and use the descriptive verbs to start to define each intended learning outcome.

Table 1: Anderson's taxonomy and level descriptors; Adapted from Sun, Y. M. (2007) and Wilson, L.

O. (2006) – Retrieved 01.04.2021 from https://www.evolveschool.co.za/amp/2013/02/26/critical- thinking-making-it-work-in-your-classroom

Step 4: Decide your course structure

Over how many weeks will your course run? What topics will be covered in each week? How many hours a week will students need to spend on the course. The table below provides the course overview for the MOOC, COVID-19 Tackling the Novel Coronavirus. The course ran over three weeks with students expected to engage with 4 hours of work each week.

Table 2: Course overview for the MOOC, COVID-19 Tackling the Novel Coronavirus.

Step 5: Decide modes of delivery and potential contributors

The teaching materials consist of two components – content and mode of delivery.

The digital platform that is being used for the course will determine the modes of delivery you have available. Typically, the following options will be available: video, audio and article. Select the mode of delivery for each part of the course with the audience and intended content in mind.

Parts of the course that are more complex may be better presented using videos with animations. Other parts that are likely to need updating (e.g. parts that contain dates or key events) are better assigned modes of delivery that can be easily edited - like articles. Aim to have a relatively even spread of different modalities in each week of the course.

Select content contributors based on their availability and knowledge on the topic. Have two or three contributors in mind for any one lecture, article or audio component. This is particularly important when developing a MOOC during a disease outbreak as the content contributors may also be actively involved with the disease outbreak and can be called away at short notice. Careful consideration should also be given to ensure there is a balance of genders, ethnicities and geographies (if applicable) in those contributing to the course.

Step 6: Develop course content

With course aims, intended learning outcomes and modes of delivery outlined, it’s helpful to provide these together when contacting course contributors. An example of the information pack provided to course contributors for the MOOC, COVID-19 Tackling the Novel Coronavirus is included here.

The information packs were tailored for the contribution required, with each contributor receiving the specific intended learning outcomes for their part, set questions they were to address in their contribution, and an example of the type of content they would be required to produce.

Note: To save time, there is often the consideration of using teaching materials designed for a different course. The process of adapting that material to suit the current course can be very time consuming and it is often more efficient to create new materials.

The process of developing course content can involve numerous stages and individuals. For example, developing a course video can involve the following stages: script development, review and amendments to script, recording (home based or in a studio), editing recordings, transcription, uploading. It may be helpful to develop a spreadsheet that allows you to chart where you are up to with the development of each Step of the course. This Excel spreadsheet provides a template for charting progress against each course Step.

Step 7: Plan course facilitation

Disease outbreaks are highly political, heightening the need for close monitoring of observation of comments posted on the course. The plans for course facilitation may vary depending on expected student numbers. For the MOOC, COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus, over 200,000 students were enrolled, predicting high volumes of comments and questions from students and a systematic approach was adopted to facilitate course discussions.  This systematic approach is described below.

The course facilitation team was divided into three cohorts:

• Hosts (individuals who had a good understanding of the digital platform and who had moderated online courses)
  
  
• Mentors (middle-grade academics or practitioners with knowledge of the topic)
  
  
• Educators (senior academics or practitioners with expertise on the topic)

Course Hosts reviewed all course comments, removed comments which breached codes of conduct, managed technical queries, and referred academic questions from course participants to course Mentors using a shared Excel Facilitation Spreadsheet. Course Mentors then reviewed the shared spreadsheet and addressed student comments or questions included there, to their level of expertise. Questions that required further review or a more expert response were then referred by the Mentors to the course Educators.

Here are the instructions provided for the course team to explain this approach.

The use of a shared spreadsheet to support the facilitation of course comments can foster a sense of community and shared action amongst the course team. The use of additional shared platforms (e.g. regular group meetings or shared text-based discussion channels) for the course team to discuss ideas or troubleshoot concerns is also recommended.

To encourage student engagement, develop questions to pose to students in the introduction to each part of the course and ask students to consider that question as they engage with that part of the course. Then, at the start of the comments sections, repeat the same question and ask students to share their responses. This can be a way to steer the course discussions. If possible, fix the question to the top of the comments section so that learners see it first.

Frequently asked question (FAQ) documents can prove helpful during the facilitation as they can address a large proportion of the questions, leaving room for more in-depth discussion. During the course, it is helpful to keep a list of frequently asked questions to feed into FAQ documents that can be used as an additional resource in subsequent runs.