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The EPFL MOOC Factory
Patrick Jermann, Gwenaël Bocquet, Gilles Raimond and Pierre Dillenbourg
Time Milestones Description
1 D-8 month Application Professors propose their project (Further details about the procedure and the forms: http://
MOOCs.epfl.ch/applications).
D-6 month Editorial
Committee
2 D-5 month Course
Design
Media
Design
3 D-4 month Prototype
Week
Review
Meeting
The MOOC editorial committee evaluates the project. There are two calls per year for projects,
one in spring and one in Fall.
Course design includes online lectures and assignments. Teachers segment their course into
chunks of appropriate size for the video lectures.
Media Design determines the “mise en scène” of the video lectures. Teachers decide at this point
what happens on the screen. We use a Media Template (see links) to structure the way professors
redesign their material.
Based on the first trial sessions in the studio, the CEDE produces a sample video that is used in
the review meeting.
Teachers and production team define the rules for video production. This is also when the CEDE
recruits a video editor who will edit the MOOC.
4 D-3 month Teaser A short 2-3 minute video is produced to illustrate the content and format of the MOOC.
Landing
page
Production
Plan
5 D-3 month Production
Weeks 2-7
6 D-Day Course
Opening
D+2
months
Delivery
Professors describe their course on the platform (text + teaser) as well as their profile page. The
landing page is made available for the public as soon as possible so as to leave time for subscriptions.
Professors define more precisely the number of videos they intend to produce, along with the
type and number of assignments.
Studio work, video editing and assignment development. See Table 2 and the rest of this paper
for details.
The opening day is usually scheduled at the beginning of the semester since most of EPFL’s
courses are linked with an on-site course.
Ideally, by the beginning of the course, the video material and the assignments are ready. The
professors post weekly announcements, monitor the forum and supervise assignments for the
duration of the course.
Table 1. Production Planning for a 7-week MOOC
The video lecture format also offers teachers the possibility
to use their own image (as taken by the camera in
front of them) as an ingredient to appear in the lecture.
To facilitate the design of video clips we propose a media
template that features layouts, or “shots”: a welcome shot
where teachers appear full screen, a split shot used for introduction
and summaries where teachers appear on half
of the screen next to graphical material, and finally a content
shot where teachers are not visible (see links).
Since most of the MOOCs produced at EPFL correspond
to a course that continues to be taught on campus,
an important aspect of design concerns ways to combine
the online offering with the corresponding course on
campus. Each course also features assignments (multiple-choice
questionnaires, peer assessment, programming
assignments) and complementary material. Especially
the development of programming assignments and
connection with existing eLearning systems involve software
developments that have to be planned.
Learning to teach in the studio
Most professors are not used to teaching in front of a camera,
without an audience. Before starting the production,
professors familiarize themselves with the studio during
one or two recording sessions (step 3 in Table 1). This
is the occasion for them to understand the possibilities
of studio recording, namely that it is possible to “cheat”
with time since it is possible to edit the sequence of the
recording, cut pauses, etc. in post-production. Some of
our teachers came 4-5 times to test the studio. The CEDE
team produces a prototype video lecture based on the
material from these trial sessions, which is then discussed
with the teachers in a review meeting.
During the review meeting, the professors and the video
editing team sit together to discuss the media design
and the acting performance of the teachers. The outcome
of the meeting is a set of recommendations for the teacher
and a set editing rules for video editors (e.g. where to
place illustrations, whether to show the professor, etc.).
We invariably encourage the teachers to engage with
their material, either by using pointing gestures or by annotating
their slides. On a few occasions, teachers have
taken some personalized coaching sessions with our cameraman
to get acquainted with the studio setting.
Marketing
Part of the massiveness of MOOCs comes from the marketing
of courses by the platform providers to their large
user bases. Each course has a “landing page” that is used
Experience Track |229