More from Dr. Kubricht

STORYBOARDING

In developing a MOOC, the Swinburne team introduced us to “Storyboarding.”  “Storyboarding” was developed by the Walt Disney studios to create animation films.  “Storyboarding” is critical to developing a successful MOOC.  To a faculty member, learning and then developing a MOOC may seem like an overwhelming proposition because normally faculty members are not current in all of the latest learning technologies and the useful features in each technology medium.  Faculty are content specialists.  “Storyboarding” forces a faculty member to lay out a content plan for the length of the course.  The next issue is how to implement various technologies and assessments to reinforce student learning.  Lecture clips and PowerPoints are most often used, but there are many other options that can be used depending on what the faculty member wants a student to learn.  But again, most faculty are not learning technology and social media experts and in many cases do not wish to put the time in to become a learning technology expert.  (On the other hand, a learning technology professional is not going to have graduate content expertise in most academic disciplines if they were developing a MOOC).

What has to happen?  Successful “storyboarding” and MOOC development then becomes a team effort.  A faculty member (and perhaps a department colleague) and one or two technology specialists work as a team developing a “storyboard” for the length of a course.  Let’s say it is a 10 week course.  In the “storyboard” a visual chart is created which shows the content goals for each of the 10 weeks and then how various technologies and activities will be used each week to enable student learning.  Assessments for each week are also developed. At that point. the course is ready to offer to students.

What results is a course that reflects team creativity and allows for freshness in many of the tasks required for each week of the course by moving beyond video lectures and PowerPoints.  The time invested in the initial development of the course pays off with a course that is easier to manage, but also assures accreditors and others that it is a quality course with appropriate learning outcomes.

How to use Popplet:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH9PzYqFCe8&feature=youtu.be

Mindmeister tutorial (mind mapping):  http://www.mindmeister.com/blog/tutorial-videos/