The present work in progress focuses on the description of the design process of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for teachers about the topic of learning scenarios, under the scope of the Project Technology Enhanced Learning @ Future Teacher Education Lab (TEL@FTELab) of the Institute of Education of University of Lisbon. The design process of the MOOC is based on the quality criteria provided by OpenupEd, specifically in the "Checklist 2 - Quality of the design of MOOC" [4], organized in eight dimensions: (i) target group; (ii) overall goal; (iii) learning objectives; (iv) learning activities; (v) feedback mechanism; (vi) study-time; (vii) workload; (ix) assessment. At the end of the course it is expected to check the dimensions and the guidelines referred to above and apply a questionnaire assessing the satisfaction of course participants, in order to identify the aspects to be improved in future editions of the MOOC.
1.1
In a society where technology is becoming more often as an extension of our daily life, its inclusion in schools it may be seen as a natural process. When thinking about the future of education is necessary to take into account these changes in society. However, it is not always clear that those changes happen in the desired pace.
The Project TEL@FTELab, which started in January 2016 and has a duration of
three years, has the main goal to rethink initial teacher education for the future
schools, helping to “constitute a specially designed learning space for promoting the
skills that teachers need to have to proficiently act as professionals in these future
environments” [
Within this scope and the activities of the TEL@FTELab project, the idea of developing the MOOC Learning scenarios for present and future teachers is one of the strategies defined to create awareness among teachers about the topic of designing learning spaces. Moreover, this MOOC can also provide the proper tools to support teachers to rethink their own classrooms into settings that they are not used to. 1.2
The TEL@FTELab project adopts the powerful idea of learning scenario as a key structuring resource for teacher education. The learning scenario concept is a hypothetical situation of teaching-learning (purely imagined or with real substrate, widely changeable) composed of a set of elements that (i) describes the context in which learning takes place, and (ii) the environment in which learning happens. Each learning scenario is conditioned by numerous factors, as knowledge domain, roles played by the different agents (students and teachers) and sequences of learning events.
A learning scenario must assume a set of characteristics [
Therefore, learning scenarios on TEL@FTELab projet are structured through trajectories using interactive tools mostly based on mobile technology. Those trajectories are constituted by activity proposals to explore, in a stimulating and challenging form, key ideas in teaching of the disciplinary areas of piloting (e.g. Biology). 2
Among the different strategies of this project to create awareness, the MOOC seems
to have more potential since it is an “online course designed for large number of
participants that can be accessed by almost anyone anywhere, as long as they have an
internet connection, is open to everyone without entry qualifications and offers a
full/complete course experience online for free.” [
To merely have access to information, might not be enough to grasp the potential
use of the material created during the project. By setting it as a MOOC, it allows us to
provide more guidance, scaffolding the necessary skills that the current and future
teacher need to rethink their classroom environment. Besides the importance of
having a massive course which can be accessed with low restrictions, it is also important
to have Open Educational Resources (OERs); in other words, to have “learning and
research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public
domain or have been released under an open license that permits non-cost access, use,
adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions” [
Concerning the instructional design process, we adopted the guidelines provided in the OpenupEd framework, created in 2013 by the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), in collaboration with the European Commission. In this regard, our MOOC respect the features recommended by OpenupEd, namely the openness: the course it is open and learner-centered and it aid students to construct their own learning from a rich environment, and to share and communicate it with others. 2.1
As already mentioned, the design of the MOOC Learning scenarios for present and
future teachers is based on the quality criteria provided by OpenupEd, specifically in
the "Checklist 2: Quality of the design of MOOC" [
The MOOC provides learners with regular feedback through self-assessment activities, tests or peer feedback. Weekly announcements or mass mailing with orientations for the following week is planned. In each weekly session, the pedagogical team makes a synthesis of artefacts from the previous week's session. The frequency of monitoring is planned and are some live-events scheduled. • Study-time - the total study time of all learning activities is minimal 1 ECTS (2530 hours of study). • Workload - the schedule of the MOOC is such that the workload per week is feasible for typical learners from the specified target group (typical 6-8 hours for those with full-time jobs). The MOOC is realistic in its pacing for the participant, accommodating to the individual's personal rhythm. • Assessment - the learning outcomes are assessed using a balance of formative and summative assessment appropriate to the level of certification, and the assessment is explicit, fair, valid and reliable. Measures appropriate to the level of certification are in place to counter impersonation and plagiarism. The MOOC has possibilities to follow the score and progression and participants can earn badges for completion of learning activities.
By following the guidelines outlined above, the team opted to define the target
audience, objectives and course structure in a timely manner, in order to guide the rest
of the design process. The course is intended for all teachers interested in acquiring
and / or developing skills in the subject of learning scenarios and has a modular
structure, divided into 4 modules: (i) planification, (ii) production, (iii) implementation and
(iv) evaluation. The modules will be designed according to the principles of openness,
accessibility and digital inclusion. The interaction between course’s participants is
expected to take place in online social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube,
etc.), allowing knowledge distribution as advocated by the connectivist pedagogy
[
The running of a MOOC seems to be a good option to create awareness among
teachers about the topic of learning scenarios, and to provide the proper tools to support
teachers with some guidance. Implementing and cultivating a MOOC designed for
teachers will serve teachers’ interests and objectives and may play a rather significant
role to engage teachers in addressing seriously their own professional development
[
To develop a MOOC is necessary to have tools, such as the ones provided by OpenupEd, to guide the process with the desirable quality. The TEL@FTE Lab Project team also recognizes the importance of evaluating the MOOC quality of the MOOC, to allowing to establish a continuous improvement action plan, which that allows the necessary adjustments, to formulate judgments and to make decisions based on them. Thus, at the end of the MOOC an evaluation will be made, based on the OpenupEd Checklist 3, which will be allowing to identify the dimensions and criteria that were not met and to make the necessary adjustments in future editions. Another aspect that is considered relevant is the participants' satisfaction evaluation.
It should also be noted that OpenupEd makes it possible to obtain a quality label. However, at this stage the purpose it is only intended to use these tools available as guidelines for the course design and evaluation, also allowing to identify the areas deserving of improvement through the final evaluation of the course.
Acknowledgments. The authors wish to express their gratitude to the organization that financially supports this work: Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. - Portugal, under the scope of the Project Technology Enhanced Learning @ Future Teacher Education Lab (contract PTDC/MHC-CED/0588/2014).