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.