Philip Wilkinson-Blake

Director of IT and E-learning

Associate for the Centre for Academic Practice

Introduction

• Director of IT and E-learning for School of Business and Economics, an Associate for the Centre for Academic Practice.

• Project Leader for the delivery of MOOCs on campus with FutureLearn.

The power of MOOCs

• A catalyst for change• Reaching many (international) students• Enhancing the University’s reputation• Developing new course design and delivery

opportunities for the future

Getting started

• Why would you want to create a MOOC?• Marketing• Reputation• International recruitment• Project specific e.g. LUiL• Institutional strategy• You should also considering the impact on credit-

bearing courses

Planning

• Academic lead• Content team• Based on a model / book• A Month content development = 1 week study• A Month technical development – 1 week study• Skills and experience need to create the materials• Training• Experienced project manager, technical and

understanding of the design process

FutureLearn

• Private company owned by the Open University.

• 40 partners made up of 37 of the best UK and international universities,

as well as institutions with a large archive of educational materials, including the British Council, the British Library, and the British Museum.

• 600,000 registered learners, with over 1000,000 course registrations.

• The students come from more than 190 countries and territories around the world. The British Council has launched a course, Exploring English: Language and Culture, with 100,000 students enrolled on the course with over 80% international learners.

Return on investment

• Partners/investors/sponsors;• Monitoring investment• How to choose the MOOC to develop• Sales of statements• Recruitment vs. income• Mixed economy different courses do different jobs• Complex decision making process for student

recruitment• MOOCs add value to credit bearing courses• FutureLearn networking with partners to match up

universities with sponsors

How this can help? (Group discussion)

• 1. Current practice in your institutions• 2. Is this working?• 3. From strategy to delivery• 4. Barriers and enablers