Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) behind the scenes

Research literature on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is still limited and tends to focus on the learner perspective. This paper reports on the experiences of ten UK-based individuals involved in designing, developing, or delivering MOOCs (learning technologists, coordinators, designers, course builders or facilitators). We focus on the following key areas: 1) reasons to offer MOOCs, 2) design, creation and delivery processes, 3) attainment and course evaluation, and 4) challenges and recommendations for the future. Findings show that MOOCs are usually collaboratively created to “follow the trend”, increase student enrolments, repurpose existing materials and/or address an international audience. The role of the teacher (also in the form of student moderators) centers on maintaining discussions on track. Evaluations of MOOC usually lack agreed indicators of success.