On June 13, design teams gathered at CTSI for a day of learning, collaborative design and discussion of instructional challenges in the MOOC environment. We were fortunate to have two guests from EdX who visited from Boston for the day to orient us to the EdX tool kit and provide advice on video production strategies. David Porter is our EdX Project Manager and he brought video expert Clayton Hainesworth, formerly with the MIT OCW project, along with him.
In addition to sessions provided by our visitors, instructors and their teams also presented their own design plans thus far, based on a “backwards design” model which is often used in course design, including online course design. In this model we start with “big picture goals” and discussion of what “success” will look like in each of the new MOOCs. Targets include promoting programs, providing remediation, use in inverted classrooms, community outreach and more. Then, using flow chart diagrams, design teams created a visualization of example MOOC components, showing the alignment between learning outcomes, activities and assessment. The results were shared and discussed in a round table format among the teams, with new ideas and observations emerging in the process. At the table were instructors, TAs, educational technology professionals, instructional designers and others supporting the design process. Here are a few photos of team members and their plans…
EdX MOOCs that participated in the Design Round Table are being lead by the following instructors:
| Our Energetic Earth | Dr. Bryan Karney – Faculty of Engineering |
| Death 101: Death 101: Measuring Global Causes of Death | Dr. Prabhat Jha – Dalla Lana School of Public Health |
| Behavioral Economics in Action | Dr. Dilip Soman – India Innovation Institute Rotman School of Management |
| Library Advocacy | Lecturer: Wendy Newman – iSchool |
For more information about our work in this area visit: open.utoronto.ca