The LoCoMoTion project set out to develop and disseminate methodologies for "Low-Cost MOOC Production" for the purpose of increasing activity in the development of MOOCs in Europe. By investigating and verifying the cost-effectiveness of a range of techniques, it aimed to produce a set of tools and guidelines which can be used for the future to increase the capacity of institutions to develop MOOCs and the number of institutions and individuals that can afford to develop MOOCs. By reducing the cost of development and delivery, it has found ways to improve the sustainability of MOOCs and increase the range of topics available from those of general interest to more specialised audiences, minority languages and topics that change quickly over time. The project leader is Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland, a higher educational institution with over fifteen years' experience in online distance learning using low-cost development methods and more recent experience in MOOC production. Technical University of Delft in Holland is very active in Open Education being a key member of the Open Courseware Initiative in Europe and active in the production of MOOCs for Coursera and edX. University of Girona in Spain is active in the development of MOOCs and has recently run training courses on "DIY" MOOC production. Fachhochschule Bielefeld in Germany is active in the rapid low-cost development of e-learning content. Bath Spa University - a university with extensive experience in distance learning and e-learning research, carried out evaluation on the cost effectiveness of the techniques identified as part of this project. The core methodology for both the identification of low-cost methods and their dissemination consisted of a MOOC in itself. This primary MOOC - delivered three times during the project, was developed based on the experiences and knowledge of the core team, and used direct instruction, constructivist and connectivist techniques to harness the efforts of the participants to identify and test techniques for their cost-effectiveness, and used the knowledge generated in each delivery for improvement of the subsequent one. This MOOC will be continuously available beyond the end of the project on Canvas learning platform at https://learn.canvas.net/courses/1412 and http://course.oeru.org/moocs4all/ where participants and experts have the opportunity to contribute to continuous improvements to the materials developed for the project.
Background “MOOCs are online courses designed for large numbers of participants, can be accessed by anyone anywhere as long as they have an internet connection, are open to everyone without entry qualifications, and offer a full/complete course experience online for free." (HOME project, 2015). Increased access to the internet means increased access to MOOCs, and in this context, MOOCs have been heralded by many as having the potential to revolutionise technology-enhanced learning – scaling up access to affordable educational opportunities for everyone on the planet. The cost of actually producing MOOCs was identified by the LoCoMotion project group, as a barrier which would prevent the majority of educational institutions from participating in the expansion of education through the MOOC medium. While many MOOCs are available free of charge to participants, they cannot be produced for free. In 2013, the most widely promoted MOOCs were reported to cost anywhere from USD 45,000 to USD 200,000 to develop (Peterson, 2013 https://goo.gl/aKpRL9 ) – beyond the budgets of most institutions. The project group believed that if these high costs of producing MOOCs could not be overcome, the majority of institutions could well be excluded from developing MOOCs for their needs. They would be excluded from using MOOCs to cater for minority languages, specialist topics or topics that change quickly over time, and could eventually develop an over-reliance on MOOCs produced by big-brand, big-budget institutions rather than having the possibility to develop MOOCs themselves - more relevant to their needs and contexts. Objectives The LoCoMotion project aimed to develop and disseminate methodologies for low-cost production of MOOCs. By investigating and verifying the cost-effectiveness of a range of low-cost production techniques, it set out to increase the capacity of institutions to develop MOOCs and reduce the barriers they faced in relation to the affordability of developing them. The project thus set out to contribute to an increase in the development of MOOCs in Europe, improving the sustainability of MOOCs, and increasing the range of topics available from those of general interest to more specialised audiences, minority languages and topics that change quickly over time. Organizations Five institutions took part in the project. Institute of Technology Sligo, Ireland (Coordinator) - a higher educational institutional with over fifteen years' experience in online distance learning using low-cost development methods, and experience in MOOC production. The Technical University of Delft, the Netherlands – a university which is very active in Open Education, being a key member of the Open Courseware Initiative in Europe and active in the production of MOOCs for Coursera and edX; The University of Girona, Spain – a university which is active in the development of MOOCs and has run training courses on "DIY" MOOC production; Fachhochschule Bielefeld, Germany - active in the rapid low-cost development of e-learning content; and Bath Spa University - a university with extensive experience in distance learning and e-learning research. Main activities The core activities in this project included development of a 'primary' MOOC by the project team; development of 'secondary' MOOCs using low cost approaches; and identification and dissemination of low-cost methodologies for MOOC production. Results The primary MOOC, 'Making MOOCs on a Budget' was designed using direct instruction, constructivist and connectivist techniques to actively engage participants in testing the recommended methodologies for their cost-effectiveness and to collaboratively identify others. The MOOC was delivered 3 times, to a total of approx. 1,000 registrants. Ten secondary MOOCs were developed by the partners of the project. An extended virtual symposium was held over a 4-week period which provided an opportunity to engage with leading figures in the area of MOOCs and technology-enhanced learning. Dissemination of low-cost approaches to MOOC development took place through more than 50 in-situ/online presentations. The team collaboratively developed a low-cost MOOC development guidelines tool based on the experience of the project. An important conclusion of the project is that more needs to be done to support the creation of an enabling environment for MOOCs within institutions (provision of facilities, support and freeing up academic time). If this happens over time the results of this project will become more useful and relevant. Long term benefits The 'MOOCs4ALL Making MOOCs on a Budget' MOOC and all other outputs of the project have been made available on WikiEducator, where they can be accessed and further built on as a support to people who wish to make low-cost MOOCs in the future.