During the selection of "Outstanding Innovation Cases" among units directly under the Ministry of Education (MOE), the “ OUC Micro-Lectures” online course construction project, combining “micro-lecture, online application systems, and teaching staff training”, was selected as an outstanding innovative case. The “OUC Micro-Lectures” project was built by the Digital Learning Resources Centre (DLRC) of the Open University of China (OUC).
In order to the promote deep integration of modern information technology and education, and better adapt to the diverse and personalized needs for degree and non-degree education, the OUC launched the “ OUC Micro-Lectures” construction project at the end of 2012. The “OUC Micro-Lectures” are mainly presented via video. Such lectures are usually short and vivid, which is convenient for fragmented learning through a variety of terminals and very suitable for informal learning.
The project was implemented by the DLRC, with the goal of constructing massive micro-lectures resources and pushing these resources to the application system through multiple terminals. The application system integrates the management, statistics, display, learning, evaluation, and promotion of the micro-lectures. The project is expected to have 30,000 individual micro-lecture teaching resources built within three years, covering hundreds of subjects for both degree and non-degree education.
The “OUC Micro-Lectures" website was launched in July 2013, and has been well received by millions of visitors. So far, the OUC has built and launched more than 12,000 high-quality micro-lectures, covering more than 80 subjects, including economics, tea culture, Chinese family names, photography, literature appreciation, sketching, social psychology, and traditional culture. The OUC Micro-Lectures cover 10 sectors: leisure, literature and art, history and culture, language, economic management, education and sports, science and technology, agriculture, forestry and fishing, politics and law, philosophy, and social sciences. The website and all the courses are open to the public for free, aiming to build a boundary-free university supported by modern technology, and contributing to the construction of a learning society, where everyone can learn anytime, in anywhere.
1. Design and R&D of Micro-Lectures: pursuing innovation and practicality
The lectures for the “OUC Micro-Lectures” project were strictly selected. Well-known scholars and experts in relevant fields have been engaged to serve as lecturers, including national first-class writer Xu Xiaobin, famous literary critic Zhang Zhizhong, and Chinese Academy of Sciences academician Lin Qun. The course design highlights contextual and visual teaching contents, and allows for the design of after-class questions. Each micro-lecture is accompanied by some after-class questions and exercises. Vivid visual images are employed in the design of lectures. The course pictures are well designed and are of great value.
In order to meet different course requirements, the DLRC has explored eight development technologies, including screen recording, video-making, 2D, 3D, virtual simulation, web pages, virtual studio, and Motion Graphic. It is constantly improving the development and testing process, so as to ensure the production of a batch of representative premium micro-lectures.
2. Website construction for OUC Micro-Lectures: continuous optimization to meet the learning demands of the users
The construction of the “OUC Micro-Lectures" website is an important part of the “OUC Micro-Lecture Construction Project”. The main sections of the website include the learning space, subjects, famous teachers, institutional channel, and personal sharing areas, all of which help institutions and individuals to upload and share course resources. The website will become a public sharing and learning platform with a collection of premium micro-lecture resources, meeting the demand for lifelong learning from the public, as well as their individual learning needs, and thus promoting the construction, promotion and application of premium digital learning resources. In addition, the DLRC has also developed the "mobile learning application for micro-lectures” of the OUC" based on Win8 and other mainstream operating systems.
3. Training services for the design and development of OUC Micro-Lectures: sharing advanced ideas and technology
In 2014, the DLRC held the 28th“Senior Workshop for the Development and Application of Micro-lectures”, with training content covering the basic theory, curriculum design, and curriculum development technology of the OUC Micro-Lectures. The workshop aimed to help teachers master the new theory and innovative teaching model of the OUC Micro-Lecture production. More than 2,000 teachers attended the on-site training. Some micro-lectures created by teachers who attended the training were selected for micro-lectures.
The main experiences taken from the project development are as follows: (1) The micro-lecture team of the DLRC emphasizes its research on the related theory and practice of the OUC Micro-Lectures, putting itself at the forefront of the field of micro-lectures both in China and abroad, and producing a series of research results. A special development team has been formed to explore the best demonstration of different types of courses. (2) The team places equal emphasis on both content design and visual design. Traditional classes often pay less attention to the presentation of the courses, which makes the courses monotonous. However, the “OUC Micro- lectures” have completely changed the status quo, greatly improving course appreciation. (3) The team is focusing on the innovation of the micro-lecture application model. The OUC Micro-Lectures have changed the structured, systematic knowledge organizational format of the traditional courses, since they have the characteristics of independence and loose coupling. The DLRC is striving for the combined application of the micro-lectures into online courses, mobile courses, and MOOCs, making full use of the high quality micro-lecture resources.
The OUC Micro-Lectures website has attracted attention from learners, experts and scholars, as well as leaders of the OUC. Many online learners have left messages expressing their appreciation for the course, and a number of scholars from higher education institutions have even written articles recommending the OUC Micro-Lectures. In May 2013, Deputy Minister of the MOE Lu Xin conducted an investigation tour at the OUC and watched the OUC Micro-Lectures during her visit.
By DLRC , OUC