An Agile Framework Definition for creating an engineering Massive Open Online Course from scratch. A case study Articles uri icon

publication date

  • October 2016

start page

  • 2360

end page

  • 2373

issue

  • 5 B

volume

  • 32

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0949-149X

abstract

  • MOOCs are a new way to design and deliver online learning. However, MOOCs are also generating a huge debate around three different aspects: the learning process including evaluation and certification criteria, the lack of skills among instructors to design and plan MOOCs and the technical and security issues of MOOC platforms. More specifically, institutions are currently making a great effort to become part of main facilitators' platforms. They are creating a good number of methodologies, guidelines and best practices to equip instructors with the necessary skills to produce high-quality learning resources that can encourage learners' participation and decrease the dropout rate. On the other hand, engineering education is one of the main areas of interest in MOOC courses. In the software and computer engineering area it is possible to find a huge number of MOOCs in particular topics ranging from an introductory to a master level. However, just a few courses address a holistic view of a domain such as software engineering due to the intrinsic difficulty of summarizing in a few weeks the main concepts of an engineering discipline. That is why, in this paper, authors introduce an Agile MOOC Development Lifecycle (AMDL) to address the challenge of designing a MOOC from scratch. Afterwards, the framework is applied to create a MOOC course about software engineering for a non- technical audience and developed by a large and multidisciplinary team of 18 instructors. This experience is also reported as a case study to validate the proposed development lifecycle. Finally, some discussion, lessons learned and future research lines are also outlined.

keywords

  • software engineering; agile; mooc; on-line education; e-learning