Solutions: Higher Ed. - MOOCs

Encourage the Development of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)

GOAL: Improve the online presence of higher education institutions by offering one-of-a-kind courses to an international audience via the Internet.

DESCRIPTION: A MOOC is a free course of study made available over the Internet to a very large number of people. MOOCs have gained popularity in higher education as a way to provide educational content to a global audience.

While a MOOC is not an online degree, nor is typically offered for credit, MOOCs are an opportunity for higher education institutions to garner interest in their courses of study from a broad audience that would otherwise not be accessible. Additionally, a MOOC allows an institution to highlight its unique curriculum, leading faculty, and programs in a way that may attract students locally, nationally, or internationally.

ACTIONS:

Institutions should establish supporting policy and guidelines for the creation of MOOCs and examine policies that may prevent the development of MOOCs by faculty.

Faculty should be encouraged to develop MOOCs and be provided with proper training and resources to do so.

Institution-supported work groups of faculty, administration, marketing, and communications staff could help leverage newly developed MOOCs to promote the institution’s programs, courses, and faculty.

RESPONSIBLE PARTIES:

Higher education administration, director of technology, IT department, department heads, faculty; Students

RESOURCES:

Designing and running a MOOC: http://www.slideshare.net/gsiemens/designing-and-running-a-mooc

Five MOOC building platforms: https://www.learndash.com/5-mooc-building-platforms/

Tips for Designing a MOOC: http://facdevblog.niu.edu/tips-for-designing-a-massive-open-online-course-mooc

University of Pennsylvania MOOC Development Guide: https://www.onlinelearning.upenn.edu/resources/instructor-resources/resources-mooc-development-delivery/