MOOC Using Existing Open Educational Resources, Setting Up Implementation and Review

Abstract

In France, DTU (Digital Thematic Universities) allow free access to thousands of OER (Open Educational resources). These resources are validated by the academic community. Some of these resources are used in distance learning by universities to deliver international co-diplomas mainly in French speaking countries. At the “Université de Lorrraine” we have already some experience with big groups through Paces (first common year of health studies) where traditional teaching has been replaced by blended learning relying on web lectures and pedagogical materials available via a learning platform. The MOOCs are a further step because there are free, fully online and for huge numbers of participants. This paper describes the setting up, the implementation and the first evaluation report of a transversal French MOOC in applied statistics called COURLIS. The contents of the MOOC are mainly OER coming from the DTU. Several universities are in the consortium designing COURLIS. The content’s level is equivalent to a bachelor degree. A fee-paying certification is proposed and the final examination is not on line. The main objective is to give a common basis for each discipline (health, management, psychology,) in applied statistic. The pedagogical methodologies rely on a connectivism part (cMOOC) and a transmissive part (xMOOC). Interactive self-assessments, collaborative wikis, personal blogs help followers in their learning. The personal work of the student is estimated to 100 hours during 4 months. There are 2 sessions per year. About six months after the beginning of Courlis 1,000 students are registered and no technical problem has occurred. The first examination has been planned in February 2014 and at this day 1% of students passed an examination.The two first parts of the paper describe the French context and the DTU .The third part is mainly on the Courlis MOOC design and in particular the partnership, the transversality, the pedagogical principles and the technical implementation. Another part explains the governance of the project. In the next part is described how the MOOC is observed by a research laboratory and in particular the interactions with and within the MOOC COURLIS in their various aspects. A paragraph is dedicated to the timing of the implementation and finally one paragraph on the first results after six months.