Leveraging videos and forums for small-class learning experience in a MOOC environment

The learning process on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is learner-driven, where face-to-face interactions are limited. Because of this, instructional videos and forum discussions in MOOCs become critical points of contact. However, in on-campus teaching, some courses (such as philosophy) are often taught in a small-class tutorial setting. How should these courses be designed for similar personalized, small-class learning experience, in a MOOC environment? In this study, we dissected course videos and course forums of a MOOC (HKU03x: Humanity and Nature in Chinese Thought). We discuss how a course team might approach video production and forum management for small-class learning experience in a MOOC environment. In particular, two tactics of the course development are described: i) using a structured series of short instructional videos in classroom settings with animations to present abstract philosophical concepts, and ii) providing learners with experiences of solving a relation problem based on philosophers' rhetoric through open-ended discussions with instructor's sustained engagement.