MOOC project update

Friday, 14 June 2013

A workshop will take place on Tuesday 25 June to provide more information

A lot has happened since the last update. As we progress, it's possible to get a better sense of what a Reading MOOC will look like. This is partly defined by the FutureLearn platform itself.

FutureLearn aims to differentiate itself from existing MOOC providers such as Coursera and EdX in a few ways - by creating a user-centric platform that focuses on learning through doing, social interactions and storytelling. Our content will need to meet each of these objectives in order to create an enjoyable, impactful experience that will develop the University's reputation among a new group of learners.

The nature of the platform and the diverse audience means that the course content we create will be different and distinct from how we teach our campus-based students. However, we will be able to reuse and repurpose this content in any way we see fit to support our existing students, as well as to attract new ones.

The courses on the FutureLearn platform will be more structured than some MOOCs, with a greater focus on directed learning, which should help support learners and improve their experience. Alongside this there will still be a strong focus on social elements, whereby students will be encouraged to share and discuss ideas.

The seven teams that are working on the first wave of MOOCs have refined their initial ideas and are making good headway in planning their courses. This first wave of courses covers a wide range of subjects from across the University and will be delivered in stages between October of this year and summer 2014.

Once the planning stage is complete, we will start producing the content, which will comprise of videos, slides, quizzes and other materials - some of which will make use of the innovative features of the platform.

Once this stage is complete, we will conduct a thorough programme of testing to check that the quality and user experience is top notch.

A workshop will take place from 12.30 - 13.45 on Tuesday 25 June to provide more information on the project and answer any questions that you may have:

FutureLearn, MOOCs and the University of Reading

This session will introduce what MOOCs are in general and in particular the types of MOOCs that Reading will be offering as part of the FutureLearn partnership.

In the meantime, if you have any ideas for future MOOCs please contact moocs@reading.ac.uk.