In Between the Process and Products: Six Years Behind the Scenes of MOOCs - Planning, Production, and Insights

Over six years, ZHAW has developed a structured, evolving approach to MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) production for international edX.org and national OpenLearnity.org learning environments. This presentation takes participants behind the scenes of that journey, focusing not only on the courses produced, but on the processes, decisions, negotiations, and team learning that made them possible.

The presentation shows how educational design, media production, technical implementation, accessibility, OER practices, and interdisciplinary teamwork come together in a shared production process. Shared planning and communication tools, including MyScripting, make the production process transparent, support joint decision-making, and provide a common framework for aligning course structure, learning objectives, activities, and media across professional roles.

The session also reflects key lessons from six years of iterative development: how quality standards are achieved, how openness and reuse require cultural as well as technical change, and how scalable production models can remain flexible throughout various teaching contexts.

More recently, GenAI has become part of this experimentation. Early trials have explored its use for structuring course content, developing alternative course architecture, refining learning activities, and supporting content production. These experiments raise new questions about pedagogical judgement, authorship, quality, cultural responsiveness, and the role of human expertise in GenAI-supported course design.