What tools and platforms do you need for a MOOC?

You can also consider: - loom for video (you can also create good videos in Canva) - PowerPoint, Prezi for slide decks - unsplashed for source of good illustrations

We have to consider all chan ages. Despite the space that traditional and well-reputed technological tools as mentioned above have, new exciting possibilities are being introduced by AI native new solutions. Most of them are focused into helping teachers and user to develop different models of content, speeding up content creation and distribution. For instance take Nolej.ai - a tool that literally transforms old material in a brand new course.

Leaving aside the MOOC dissemination platform, Content creation tools are no different from those that can be used to create attractive educational web pages, and there are many, as already mentioned. It might be interesting to mention those that are distributed freely and/or open source.

It is also necessary to stress the need to prepare with great care the exams intended to validate the MOOC, in order to ensure that there will be no contestation of the results. This can be a very big preparation work, which must be renewed for each new session of a MOOC. Tools to automate exam preparation would be welcome.

The main barrier to achieve good learning in MOOC is the community support in the learning process. Good MOOC includes good communication connections between participants. Metaverse environment is one of the key technologies to insure qualified learning via MOOC along side good collaborative tools.

For starters, you might want to consider using closed Facebook groups to host your course (pre-recorded). Participants pay through platforms like Selar, and are redirected by a link to access your pre-recorded audio-visual presentation. Participants also get a chance to interact with one another, and the hosts can easily respond to queries or assess knowledge gained.

Learning management systems make organizing and reusing course content easier, especially for a large audience. They simplify data collection and management of student progress, assignments, grades, and prerequisites. Preset flags and notifications can help instructors to assess when participants need additional support, or are primed for a new course or service offering. LMS dashboards help students manage their learning in self-paced courses and programs. Deciding to use an LMS vs a simpler solution like a video series or content library should be based on: - needing to track student course progress over time - needing records of assignment and quiz grades - offering a multi-course program or certification

When creating for accessibility, be sure to check that your LMS choice does not lock down text. Some do, which prevent screen readers or text-to-speech from engaging in that content. This is especially important when creating quiz / exam content.

In the realm of MOOCs, a robust Learning Management System (LMS) is indispensable. Platforms like Coursera, edX, and Moodle go beyond just hosting; they're comprehensive solutions for content organization, student enrollment, and progress tracking. Coursera, for instance, benefits both me and my students by offering a wide array of courses that complement our primary learning objectives, thereby enhancing continuous education. These platforms offer seamless integration and real-time analytics, invaluable for optimizing course outcomes. From facilitating various types of content to monitoring student engagement, an effective LMS is more than just software—it's the backbone of quality, accessible, and engaging online education.

A good LMS can make a tremendous difference in being able to design and deliver effective and engaging courses. Using an LMS that is accessible and secure enables a wide range of instructional activities, and a strong hub to center a MOOC around. I've designed and taken MOOCS using both Canvas and Moodle, and it is worth taking the time to learn how to use these systems and how to design effective courses with them.

One important consideration is to never require a specific technology or platform for students without first ensuring it is completely accessible. Allowing flexibility for students to engage with multiple technology options can help ensure a better experience for everyone - and save you a lot of headaches. Sometimes nothing beats a good LMS for providing accessible and secure options for student collaboration...

For some students very useful is Discord, some use WhatsApp and of course we have old-fashioned e-mail, Facebook messenger or native communication that is in LMS.

The generally preferred format for the presentation of courses is the short video (duration less than 5 minutes), but it should be noted that this mode of presentation also has two main disadvantages for the teaching team: - The cost of creating a high-quality video is quite high, as you need access to a recording studio - But above all, it is difficult to make updates to the videos for subsequent MOOC sessions, if only because the teachers are not exactly dressed and styled as during the initial shooting. Other formats such as slideshows with soundtrack may be better suited if we know that course content must evolve over time.

Some LMS have the ability to create short video / audio messages. This seems great. However, from an accessibility standpoint, very few have the ability to attach subtitles or auto-generate captions. Thus, you think that you're being clever in allowing these options for communication, but you're excluding those that rely upon captions. Be careful.

This section on personal learning tools is for learners, not teachers. It would be better to write it with that in mind, as the rest of the page is for teachers. You could say: What types of personal learning tools do you recommend to your learners to help them get the most out of their learning?

It's best to start creating your course content with accessibility in mind from the beginning, rather than trying to "make it accessible" after the fact. PowerPoint and Word have built-in accessibility tools to nudge course creators into creating accessible presentations and documents with proper document heading hierarchy and descriptions for images. Although not perfect by any means, automated captions for videos provide some support for deaf and hearing-impaired students. AI-enhanced content creation tools like Podium, Riverside.fm, and Descript provide automated, editable transcripts for video and audio files.

In addition, I would like to highlight the significance of adaptability and resilience in the online learning landscape. Embracing change and staying open to new technologies and methodologies is crucial. Whether it's navigating through different learning platforms, adjusting to evolving study methods, or even overcoming technical challenges, I am prepared to approach each situation with a positive attitude. By demonstrating adaptability and resilience, I'm confident that I can not only excel in my studies but also acquire valuable life skills that will serve me well in the future.

Here are four examples of self-assessment activities: - Drag and drop onto image exercises allow learners to check if they can find their way around a sketch or a chart. They operate by simple drag and drop; - Gap-fill exercises with a contextual image require a little more concentration on the learner's part, but is very fruitful in ensuring that difficult concepts are well understood; - Categorization exercises complement the previous two activities well: learners organize elements into categories and thus learn to distinguish their characteristics; - Finally, single-choice questions and multiple-choice questions allow them to test their knowledge in a fairly broad way, but they are not very user-friendly tools.

Based on my experience (I built three MOOCs a few years ago), one of the main characteristics of MOOCs is that learners do not have direct contact with teachers and can only interact with them in a very limited way. They cannot therefore question them when they have doubts or questions. It is therefore fundamental, when designing the MOOC, to plan multiple self-assessment activities so that each learner can check his/her understanding of the concepts presented to him/her. These activities should be proposed after each new video or course page. It is not necessary that the grades obtained be memorized. It is even preferable that only the learner knows about them so that he/she does not fear that they will be used for his/her evaluation.

I would also like to point out the importance, when several learners participate in the creation of the MOOC, to ensure consistency between their contributions. On the one hand, it is necessary to avoid that the same topics are treated several times, and on the other hand to ensure that the prerequisites of each contribution have all been presented to the learners.

The great interest of MOOCs is that they require the complete and fully explained scripting of a course, with many learning activities, which is part of a quality approach for teaching. Such a thorough scripting is very rarely done for classical courses. If a MOOC is well designed, its content reveals in great detail what the teacher considers desirable to present to learners.