This website is build to support the Clinical Nutrition Team during their MOOC development (funded by: IRO@kuleuven). It is on the one hand a supportive resource during the two-day workshop held at each of the partners’ institutions of the Clinical Nutrition MOOC project and on the other hand general information on the design and development of a MOOC at the KU Leuven and its Faculty of Medicine. By following the different steps below, we can guarantee you that the process of developing a MOOC will be substantially quicker and more effective.
Like in any MOOC this site is a joint effort of information providers, designers, and developers. Therefore we would like to acknowledge the materials developed by edX, Limel@KULeuven, DOO@KULeuven, ICTS@KULeuven, and the MOOC-team@KULeuven.
Step -1: Why MOOCs?
Like any other educational technology, also Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are no guarantee for educational success. Despite this, they have certain characteristics that might make them particularly useful for some purposes. Investigate if a MOOC suits your course.
Step 0: Familiarize yourself with MOOCs
Before you start conceptualizing your MOOC it is advisable to get to know a few MOOCs and get familiar with the way information and instruction is provided in them.
Step 1: Fill in the About Page
The About Page is the first document you should consider when planning to develop a MOOC. This document can be used to conceptualize your MOOC idea. Additionally, this document can often function as a proposal to be submitted for funding.
Step 2: Fill in the Conceptual Outline
The Conceptual Outline is the heart and soul of the MOOC in this document you draft the general approach to it and define the different sub-sections you will include in the MOOC.
Step 3: Familiarize yourself with the edX features
To be able to identify the different educational approaches and technical possibilities, it is important to familiarize yourself with the MOOC platform your institution selected to host its MOOCs on.
Step 4: Develop one module of the MOOC
To be able develop the entire MOOC in an efficient way, it is advisable to do a development test run with one module before your develop all the course materials. In this way you make sure you have a well-tested approach to developing the MOOC content.
Step 5: Develop all other modules
Based on the knowledge obtained during the development of the first module you can finalize the other course modules in the same fashion.
Step 6: Develop the supportive pages
Once all the content is developed and uploaded onto edX. The supportive pages need to be tuned to this content. These pages, that look like tabs, help learners to organize the course when taking it.
Step 7: Test the course extensively before going live
A final, but most important step is to extensively test the course you build. As you as an expert are probably already over-familiar with the course already, it is advisable to ask lay-people to go through it for you and pin-point possible bottle-necks.
Important to know: As we would never expect you to do all of this work on your own we at the Teaching and Learning Office of the KU Leuven Faculty of Medicine are there to help you in your quest for a MOOC. In case you want any more information on them, please let us know through: eco.facgen@kuleuven.be.