Abstract:

The Open University of Espírito Santo (UnAC) is a Brazilian state program that partners with public institutions to offer extension, undergraduate, and postgraduate courses — at lato sensu and stricto sensu levels — in face-to-face, blended, and distance learning modalities across multiple fields of knowledge, including information and communication technologies, education, engineering, sustainability, agroecology, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and logistics. Since its creation, 36 courses have been offered through local support centers, reinforcing the program's commitment to decentralizing higher education.

Higher education institutions face persistent challenges: heterogeneous prior knowledge among students, limited instructional time, and growing demand for extracurricular and lifelong learning opportunities. In this context, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) emerge as a scalable solution to bridge learning gaps, deepen knowledge, develop transversal competencies, and promote educational inclusion beyond geographical and economic barriers. Since 2022, UnAC has been systematically developing MOOCs to complement its students' formal education and expand learning opportunities to the wider community. Offered free of charge on a public platform, these courses represent a concrete instrument for the democratization of knowledge and social inclusion.

For this purpose, the ADDIEM model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation for MOOCs) was adopted — an adaptation of the traditional ADDIE model tailored to the specific context of open online courses hosted on the Ifes Open Courses Platform (Moodle). The model structures course creation into five stages: Analysis (objectives and course project definition); Design (pedagogical planning and activity mapping); Development (content, media, and learning activity production, incorporating gamification, H5P, and AI-supported tools); Implementation (virtual environment setup); and Evaluation (technical validation, pedagogical review, and post-offering monitoring). Throughout this process, an instructional designer guides teachers during the Analysis and Design phases, while a technical specialist supports the Development, Implementation, and Evaluation stages. Structured teacher training is also provided, including a dedicated course entitled "How to Create a MOOC," along with workshops on video production, gamification, and the use of AI for content creation.

To date, 30 MOOCs have been completed, with 10 more under development, covering areas such as active methodologies, digital tools, computational thinking, environmental education, management, professional development, and inclusion. The courses have attracted 47,579 enrolments and issued 15,329 certificates (32%) — granted upon reaching at least 60% of course completion requirements — with participants from all Brazilian states and 25 countries. Satisfaction rates are high, with an average score of 9.41 out of 10 (minimum: 8.19), reflecting strong learner approval and the effectiveness of the instructional strategies adopted. These results highlight the potential of institutionally structured MOOCs — grounded in a tailored instructional design model, sustained teacher training, and a firm commitment to open and equitable access to education — as scalable, high-quality tools for strengthening public distance education policies.

Keywords:

MOOC, ADDIEM Model, UnAC, Distance Education, Higher Education, Lifelong Learning.