The OLDS MOOC starts on 10th January. In anticipation of it starting I thought I better check up what it is all about and what and when I needed to do something. I found the original email from November when I'd registered an interest. It gave the website for the course and suggested joining the announcement list and open discussion forum.
It also stated that there would be a live launch on Monday 7th Jan.
A further paragraph gave details of the structure of the MOOC which 'reflects a proposed process for a design inquiry project'.
I visited the website. (The image is a bit cheesy but ok - would have been really cool if the push on the door opened the door to the course). Anyhow I missed out the blurb and went straight to the 'The course' tab. The drop down menu gives a 1 word title for each week. Week 0 Register gives links to the announcement and open discussion list (google groups). I joined these and specified daily abridged summaries of messages as I don't want loads of email notifications.
There was nothing else to do so I thought I'd wait until the start date but over the last couple of days there have been lots of people doing the 'where are you from activity' which is part of week 1 I think.
I returned to the website. Week 1 has a number of activities split up into different days, something for each day. I watched the 5min video introduction.
I discovered that there had been problems with the live launch which was due to problems with an error on Cloudworks which must have been annoying and frustrating for the organizers but these things happen. A recording is going to be available.
So far:
I like the interface and the layout of the content. It is easy to navigate and easy to read and understand.
I like the interface and functionality of the google groups and they're easier to use as discussion forums than those that are part of VLEs especially when using an iPad.
The content of the course is quite specific - you need to be an educationalist interested in curriculum design. It is presupposing that participants have prior knowledge.
The course also presupposes that you are familiar with quite a number of online learning tools and environments - this suits me fine but is it a prerequisite for taking the course?
The only other point is that there are specified activities for each day and for weekend??? I'm not sure how many people will be able to dedicate time each day and it feels a little prescriptive. This may be a personal working preference but I tend to log in to courses 3 or 4 times a week max and catch up with what's happening.
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