Title: Topic, target group and development resources of a MOOC
Course: Digivisio DEMO: Planning and creating a MOOC > Section: Starting points for planning a MOOC

When you start creating a MOOC, you must naturally first have an idea of its topic. The choice of the course topic is influenced by several factors, including the teacher's expertise and understanding of what interests the learners. You should also consider if other experts besides the teacher are needed to create the course, including representatives of the same or a different area of expertise, to contribute different perspectives to it. In this case, it is also advisable to agree on the resources to be used for developing the course and to ensure that the working time of all persons involved in the work has been allocated to MOOC development.

The choice of the topic is additionally influenced by the target group and the offering of the studies in which the course will be included, in other words, if it will be available to degree students, through open university, or perhaps to all learners. If the course is offered to degree students, you should already consider its placement in the curriculum and also have the necessary discussions with the student administration before you start creating the course.

Below, the aspects related to the topic selection are examined from the perspectives of the learner, teacher, and higher education institution (HEI). This allows you to learn more about the topic from different perspectives.

Learner:
Learners studying MOOCs may be degree, open university, or cross-institutional students, or the course may be open to all learners without the right to study at a higher education institution. Learners may also come from several different countries. Separate learner groups are interested in different topics, and topics are often approached differently with degree students than with learners taking open studies.

Teacher:

The choice of the topic for the MOOC to be created is naturally influenced by the teacher's expertise and interests. MOOCs can also be built together with colleagues in the same or a different field, in which case different perspectives on the topic can be obtained. When several people create the MOOC together, you should agree on who takes on the overall responsibility for creating the course and who will make sure that it is completed on schedule. You should also ensure that you have an agreement on using the resources of all those participating in creating the course. The choice of the topic for the course to be built is also influenced by the target group and the offering of studies in which it will be made available for learners. In practice, this is about the kinds of topics that interest various learner groups and the level at which the topic should be approached.

HEI:

From the higher education institution’s viewpoint, the key question regarding the topic of a MOOC is if the MOOC is part of the curriculum and what its relationship to other courses on the curriculum is. The level of the course is also crucial (such as Bachelor’s degree at a university/UAS or Master’s degree at a university/UAS). If the MOOC is part of the curriculum, the student administration process is also involved in creating it, which is why it would be advisable to talk to a student administration representative already at the planning stage of the MOOC. Even if the MOOC is openly available and not part of the curriculum, you should still talk to a student administration representative and/or a member of education management about it. The language of the MOOC in relation to the intended target group is also an important choice.

Fill in the topic of the MOOC, the target group, and the resources for creating the course in your pedagogical manuscript.
- Which topic are you creating a MOOC on?
- Which group(s) is the MOOC aimed for?
- What is the width of the MOOC in ECTS credits you are creating? Is the MOOC a partial implementation of a larger course or an independent course?
- Is the MOOC part of the curriculum? What is the level of the course (such as EQF6 or EQF7)?
- What is the language of the MOOC?
- Who are you creating the MOOC with? Have the resources for creating the MOOC been agreed on?

References

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