At work we have a little MOOC studio in which many of our MOOC videos are filmed, but whether we use this the studio is up to the MOOC instructor. It's really based on the look and feel the MOOC instructor wants. In the case of the MOOC I'm working on, the instructor wanted to be filmed in a classroom that has an oldschool "Oxford" feel to it. Since it's 2015 almost all venues at campus have been renovated. I mean where and how was I going to find a venue with a blackboard and wooden frames?!

Luckily we have a centralised system for campus venues and I emailed them to find if they knew of any venues that met these specifications. They happily replied with in a day with a list of venues I could look at. I ran around campus with TinaShe from our video production team to have a preview of the venues. I took photos of them (below) and then emailed the MOOC instructor to ask him which of the venues he preferred.








He chose his preferences and within a short time we managed to do a trial shoot in the venue. We had issues like two of windows in the venue refused to close and one where a student came inside the room while we were filming despite my "filming in progress" signs all over the doors.

Later this month we'll be filming the lectures for this MOOC. Eeek. I find it a bit nerve-wrecking because this is an entirely new experience for me. But one thing for sure, the MOOC creation process is interesting. It differs greatly across MOOCs, highly dependent on the topic and the instructor/s.

I'm working on a MOOC that uses slides for screencasts and I realised it's so important that we create slides that creates a good learner experience. The expectation that learners download slides to view on their large computer or laptop screen is no longer the norm. More and more learners are using smaller devices, like their phones and tablets to view slides. This means we have to consider designing more accessible slides for these devices. We need the font to be readable, the images to be big enough and the colours to be easy on the eyes. These tips are especially important when designing slides that you plan on using in a video.

I haven't really been blogging about my endeavors in educational technology, but I think it's a perfect time to start since I started my job as an assistant learning designer at the University of Cape Town two months ago. Since I'm completing my master's degree educational technology on the topic of MOOCs, my job serves as an extension of this field. When I arrived to my job, I happen to come at a pressing time, which was the week before UCT's first MOOC, Medicine and the Arts was about to start. My a few of my first tasks were to check transcripts and upload them to the platform, edit readings and assist with some of the social media. Since then I've been assigned two of my own courses where I'll be very involved in the learning design. It's been very interesting, stressful and all sorts of chaos because I'm still inexperienced. So far, it has been a great learning experience, with more responsibility than I'm used to. 

UCT's second MOOC, What is a Mind? with Professor Mark Solms as the lead educator is starting next week, 11 May. 


If you want to chat about MOOCs, find me on twitter.

MOOC (free)	MOOC (certified)	Face-to-face peers	Face-to-face facilitator/instructor
X				Normal
	X
X		X		e.g. students using Coursera / meetup.com to find peers
	X	X
X		X	X	Wrapped MOOCs
	X	X	X

I have some good news or great news rather! I passed all my modules with amazing grades. Way beyond my expectations and I'm so proud of myself. This year I will be completing part 2, the dissertation/thesis. I am so scared. Am I even capable of spewing out 100 pages of pure research? I know this is going to be a huge challenge and I need to stay organized if I want to stay ahead of the game. I'm planning to track my weekly word count and create a referencing log for my searches. I'll upload everything I create, perhaps it will help another disorganized soul out there.

For now, I have to write my thesis proposal and once that's approved things are going to get even more real. I want to graduate by next year June, which means I have roughly a year to complete my thesis. I think it's more than doable but I have to stay focused. Another goal I have is to do well,  over 70% well. Also hoping some will publish me or I get to speak at a conference.

I'm definitely going to be posting my experiences and tips as I go along. I think it will be interesting to look back at this journey.

Just to let you know MOOCs is my topic. Well, my broad topic!



Tasneem

photo credit: Emmanuele Contini via photopin cc