LCM: A Model for Planning, Designing and Conducting Learner-Centric MOOCs

MOOCs are expanding in popularity and scope, and several new courses are being designed and implemented in a variety of contexts. The discussion around MOOCs is growing too, however, much of that is centered around technological or certification-related issues. There are still not many advances in the pedagogical format, and many MOOCs end up being an online version of the traditional lecture format. At the same time, several problems have been reported, such as, lack of learner engagement, low participation in forums and low completion rates. To address these challenges, we present the Learner-Centric MOOC model: a prescriptive model consisting of a set of guidelines, activity formats and actions for MOOC creators. The LCM model guides instructors in conceptualizing, creating and conducting a MOOC, while maintaining a learner-centric pedagogical approach at its core. The LCM model consists of four structural elements: Learning Dialogs, Learning by Doing activities, Learning Experience Interaction and Learning Extension Trajectories, and Orchestration dynamics. In this paper, we describe the structural and dynamic aspects of the LCM model, show its application in various MOOCs and illustrate evaluation results from MOOCs based on LCM model.