Pioneering MOOC in the Mauritius Context: Lessons Learnt and Observations: the Case of the Open University of Mauritius

Abstract

The Open University of Mauritius (OUM) pioneered the design and delivery of a MOOC, ‘Sustainable Development in Business’ in 2019, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), as part of COL’s strategy for “increasing access to learners on environmental awareness”. This MOOC facilitated access to SDG materials to a global audience where participants would learn from each other: challenges, lessons and good practice. There were two intakes in 2020 and 2021 as the world was battling against Covid-19. With more than 13,000 registered participants in the four runs of the MOOC (May 2019, November 2019, June 2020, and April 2021), this highly successful MOOC has been a learning experience for the local team. This paper aims to explore the challenges and lessons learnt at the different stages: conception and design of the MOOC bearing in mind cultural diversity, marketing, managing multidisciplinary teams from different institutions, using the mooKIT platform and using feedback to review the MOOC. Being the first-ever Mauritian-led MOOC with predominantly Mauritian learners, this paper contributes to the literature on the lived experiences of the collaborators in developing and facilitating the MOOC. It is hoped that the lessons learnt will empower other institutions embarking on MOOCs to build impactful MOOCs.