Abstract:

This paper addresses an interesting puzzle in the research literature on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs); although video plays an important role in the making of almost any online course, there is, surprisingly, little research on use of videos in MOOCs. In fact, the current research horizon demonstrates a learning analytic approach, meaning that researchers are foremost interested in measuring the performance of videos in MOOCs. In contrast, we find little research and conceptual papers exploring the learning design principles behind the use of videos and what role they play in relation to learning goals and assessment, for example. That said, such aspects should indeed be important, considering the current situation in MOOCs and the panic COVID-19 digitalization of higher education institutions. For a decade, however, MOOCs have experienced high-dropout rates and low completion rates among online learners, a trend that suggests not to change in the nearest future. Also, research shows that online learners often use dropping-in and dropping-out learning strategies and are very particular for what type of learning content they choose to integrate in their learning. In addition, we can observe a mass production of online courses that enables cross-comparison and ascertaining of quality in learning and instructional design. Research establishes that the quality of MOOCs is low when principles for instructional design are considered, a factor raising questions in the way MOOCs are produced and designed. In other words, there is an urgent need to address the pedagogical processes in which MOOCs are made. Learning design work must be casted to the forefront. In relation to this challenge, the main goal of this paper is to explain and outline active learning design for video use that future MOOC designers and creators can use when making MOOCs. These emerged when adapting knowledge from a research case study in sociology into a MOOC that run on FutureLearn, a MOOC that explored how a teacher used digital technologies in foreign-language training at a Norwegian high school.

Keywords:

MOOC, Video, learning design, video style.