MOOC – Massive Open Online Courses
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are free online courses open to all, designed for distance learning of a large number of participants from different cultural and geographical backgrounds.
These are often university-level courses, made accessible to a wide audience and not necessarily specialized.
A MOOC consists of a structured sequence of learning materials (articles, short videos, podcasts, etc.) and interactive activities, including self-assessment tests such as quizzes and peer assessment activities.
Production of MOOCs
For the implementation of MOOCs, the University annually makes specific funding available through calls for the improvement of teaching.
Publication of MOOCs
The MOOCs of the University of Padova are published on online platforms affiliated with the University, all accessible free of charge to anyone, not just Unipd students.
Design and production phases
The development process of a MOOC is divided into the following phases:
- Ideation, design, and micro-design (3–6 weeks)
- Content production (8–10 weeks)
- Platform Publishing and Review (4 weeks)
Professionals involved
The creation of a MOOC involves several professional skills:
- Professors: responsible for the scientific and didactic contents of the course
- Project Manager: coordinates the project, the work phases and relations with teachers and structures
- Learning Designer: supports instructional design and content structuring
- Instructional Technologist: takes care of the implementation on the platform and the organization of multimedia materials
- Audio/video operator: manages set-up, equipment and filming
- Video editor: creates the editing of audiovisual content (slides, subtitles, theme songs)
Support
The Digital Learning and Multimedia Office (supporto.elearning@unipd.it) coordinates all phases of MOOC production, from design to publication on the chosen platform.
