2015 marked the year of the take-off of the maiden journey of IIM Bangalore’s Flight MOOC2015! For the entire flight crew at India’s top B-school, it was a challenging and exciting year of design, build, test and go-live! As we plan out many more such flights in 2016, here’s a quick look at the successful first flight from India’s technology capital, Bengaluru.Â
Flight Crew: 15 Professors, 3-member Programme Office, 2 Instructional Designers, 13 Pedagogical Research Assistants, 8-member Media Production Team.
Flight Destination: 185+ countries all over the world.
Flight Passenger Strength: 100,000+ lifelong learners.
The preparation started in August 2014 as we built a strong, skilled team to create some of most pedagogically sound online courses on topics such as Statistics, Analytics, Operations Management, IT Management, Economics, Sustainability, Healthcare, Accounting, Financial Markets, People Management and more.
The next few months saw the setting up of two video recording studios, complete with touch-screen digital tablets, teleprompters, lights, cameras, bar stools, green screen, Mac Pros and more.
IIMB faculty – always known for their early adoption of technology for education – rolled up their sleeves to create optimum online learning experiences for their MOOC-ers. This involved stitching together byte-sized videos, readings, quizzes, discussions and cases into a digital tapestry of high quality management education.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJVhkOWRTZU]
As the crew got ready for the take-off, there were multiple aspects of course delivery to be take care of, not unlike a typical flight takeoff checklist:
| Flight Checklist | MOOC Checklist |
| Power Up/ Safety Check | Video Production Completeness |
| Pre-flight Equipment Check | Comprehensive Course QA |
| Before Starting Brake and Fuel Check | Assessments and Grading |
| Start Taxi Lights and Timer Check | Course Marketing |
| Taxi Out Flight Controls Check | Final Course Design Enhancements |
| Before Take Off Flight Attendants Check | MOOC Development Checklist Submission to edX |
Ready…Set…Go!
The entire process involved more thousands of hours of team effort – right from video scripting to editing, from creation of MCQs to graphic design, from accessibility checks to social media marketing!!
The preparation for the maiden flight was not without obstacles such as:
- Lack of aviation fuel -> Sometimes, the videos just would not come out right and the courseware would not take shape!
- Brakes not working -> It was not easy to convey one concept in a 5-minute video; our professors love talking and just wouldn’t stop in front of the camera!
- Incorrect navigationn -> Instructional design to create learning pathways and experiences for the easily distracted online learner was an uphill task.
In this first year, the flight crew at IIMBx MOOC has delivered more than 10 wonderful courses to our lifelong learners and received many a satisfactory customer review too!!
“It was a comprehensive and prolific course on Operations Management taught by an eminent faculty.”
“The course was nicely structured, very well planned and carefully executed. All stars on the content, delivery and execution.”
“The time spent on this course was worth every second.”
As we look back at 2015, the IIMBx MOOC team is busy for the next set of ambitious flights planned for 2016 – with new learnings, new ideas and a whole lot of fuel to take off into the world of online teaching & learning.
2016 – here we come!
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