Open Learning Talks: Focusing course design on learners

Most massive open online courses (MOOCs) are designed with an undergraduate course framework, which assumes the learner will proceed through the course the way an undergraduate would: acquiring knowledge from the instructor’s lectures, mastering concepts or skills through problem sets, and eventually completing the course. But MITx courses are freely available to anyone in the world, attracting diverse learners with different goals and motivations. What about the learners who casually explore course videos because they love to learn? Or those who participate in the course’s discussion forums to find community surrounding a given topic? How can educators approach course design with different learners’ perspectives and needs in mind?

In this talk, Digital Learning Lab Scientist Meghan Perdue will present her work on learner-focused course design. Using qualitative research from a group of MITx learners, she led the development of a MOOC Learner Design Guide, which presents key motivations connected to “learner archetypes,” along with ten course design tips and tricks. Shira Fruchtman, Lead Learning Designer at MITx, will join to discuss Perdue’s research and what the adoption of these guidelines will look like in practice. Host Christopher Capozzola, Senior Associate Dean for Open Learning, will moderate the conversation and an audience Q&A.

This event is free and open to the public. Register on EventBrite.

Open Learning Talks bring together leaders in learning to discuss new research-based ideas, technologies, and efforts in education, at MIT and around the world. See more talks in this series.