Abstract:

In order to design top-quality educational materials, we often need a team of experts and professionals from more than one institution, oftentimes from more than one country, which is especially true in case of expert courses or courses on specific highly specialised topics. Cooperation in educational design is also crucial in case of creating institutional-level initiatives such as micro-credentials or tertiary education programmes led by multinational consortiums. In this paper I would like to share insights and experiences related to international cooperation in designing educational materials, especially Massive Open Online Courses which are useful also on a more general level. Those insights are based on my experience as a leader of two Erasmus Plus educational projects that required international cooperation (leading to creation of a series of MOOCs) and related to a broader context of design practices in education. In the paper I will briefly discuss motivations for multinational collaborations, core challenges and opportunities from such endeavours, and some practices that have proven successful in managing international projects and might be useful for international educational teams and their leaders.

Keywords:

Education, international cooperation, Massive Open Online Courses, MOOC, leadership, curriculum design.