Building a MOOC | Open Learning

The MOOC production process has three primary phases:

Phase One: Preparatory Work

Post-Award Meeting where a Project Administrator provides a brief description of OWLS processes and support roles, discusses your project/MOOC in-depth and clarifies any outstanding questions from grant proposal.
Strategy Meeting that delves deeper into learning strategies, defining primary learning goals, and determining an estimated development timeline.

Once these two steps are complete our team will help schedule a series of training sessions for the course team. This often occurs after the course team has had time to assemble a complete team.

Phase Two: Planning

You will draft an outline of your course, determine strategies on how you’re going to build your course, and create an estimated timeline for development. Our Online Learning Specialist can assist in this process.

Now that you have created a plan, your team is ready to be begin developing content, building assessments, media production and tracking 3rd party content. At this point, we recommend building a representative sample week to test drive your training and to see if any additional training is needed. The OWLS team will be working with you throughout this process and through the entirety of your project.

Phase Three: Production Process

Below is an outline of the entire process, so that you can use it as a roadmap. complete with a fillable timeline. This example is based on a course that mirrors a 12-14 week MIT course.

Downloadable: MOOC Development Timeline

Preparatory Work	Timeline dates are from the time of grant approval.
Action Item		Duration	Estimated Dates
Notification of project approval		Approval Date	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _
Faculty and content contributors sign Intellectual Property Agreement (IPA) via DocuSign Signing of the IPA initiates the process to transfer grant funds to the department		20 Minutes	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (one to two weeks from approval)
Post-Award Meeting Expand on key points from grant proposal to clarify project needs Discuss possible course team configuration and roles Introduce the MITx development process and team roles		One Hour	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (two to three weeks from approval)
Begin Planning Faculty begins to consider approach to course content and assessment		ongoing	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (begin after Post-Award Meeting)
Strategy Meeting Determine expected development timeline Explore potential learning strategy/pedagogy Discuss primary learning goals		One Hour	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (one to two months from approval)

Bridge to Production – Planning Period	Timeline dates are from the time of grant approval.
Action Item		Duration	Estimated Dates
Begin to design course content Draft course outline Plan initial production schedule Investigate assessment strategies Consider Feature-Based Enrollment approach for learner experience Look into intellectual property usage		ongoing	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (begin two to four months from approval)
Schedule Trainings with MITx Teams edX Platform Training IP Training Media Orientation Accessibility		One to Two Hours	As appropriate based on plan(s) from Strategy Meeting and course team availability; Email your MITx PM to schedule

It is important that course teams maintain regular communication with the MITx team during the development process. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Project Administrator or mitx-pm@mit.edu.

Production Work	Timeline dates progress to the course launch date.
Action Item		Duration	Estimated Dates
Begin Building Course Content creation Finalize assessment(s) strategies & build Choose reading(s) Supplemental text Media production Updating content based on IP tracking Finalize policy on verified and audit learner experience		Nine+ months	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (nine months before launch)
Recommended Steps: Build a sample week Provides a template for the rest of the course Helps provide realistic time management for the rest of the project		One month	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (nine months before launch)
Recommended Steps: Strategy Meeting Follow Up w/ MITx Revisit Strategy Meeting notes Review the sample week Revise sample week and iterate of development plan based on discussion		One hour each	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (eight to nine months before launch)
Meet with MITx team to review development status Allows MITx team to help you troubleshoot any current challenges or concerns Provides opportunity for collaborative planning		ongoing	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _
Create About Page Submit form and assets to MITx Review and approve preview page		One week	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (three months before launch)
About Page is published and enrollment opens		-	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (two months before launch)
Complete development: Final videos uploaded with transcripts Begin clearing outstanding IP objects Finalize content on platform Faculty completes initial review		Two months	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (two months before launch)
Pre-Launch meeting with MITx staff Review launch checklist Finalize course moderation/management with MITx Identify beta-testers, TAs Review learner communication plan		One hour	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (two months before launch)
Beta test course Course team makes final updates/changes based on findings & MITx recommendations		One to two month(s)	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (one to two months before launch)
Finalize IP object status		One month	_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ (one month before launch)
LAUNCH!			_ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _