Almost there...
Earlier today we have taped the last video for our LeaderMOOC project - you'll see them last week in the concluding topic on goal setting and habit change. It is a tremendous feeling we are almost at the end of our endeavor and have one more week to go. The last two weeks of LeaderMOOC were not made yet when we started, so both have been a fight against time. LeaderMOOC is rather long with its 8 weeks so seeing the end is good - we'll be able to catch up on some sleep :-). On the other hand it gives us a lot of energy to see what people are doing with the MOOC's insights as we read through the peer reviewed assignments and the discussion forums. For me the past week especially has been challenging as I was training at the other side of the world and only had a slow hotel internet connection, while our week 6 on the 'mystery topic' that people voted for at the start of the MOOC took shape.It's a changing world after all
The topic people voted for to have in week 6 was 'leading in times of change'. I don't think it had ever been done in a MOOC: letting a weekly topic open and start designing it on the suggestion that gets the most votes. For us it is a reality check with what topics people really want in the MOOC and a way to engage participants to be also in the steering seat. But it was also a test for us at the other side in how rapidly we could create a week from scratch. Mystery week has been our stretch in the design team, and we are very, very happy with the result. The week's content is strong, and the topic popular. (at least we think :) )Here were the votes by the way:
Change is all around us, and a lot of people struggle with the massive amount of change, the pace of change and the fuzzy environment it creates. A lot of change initiatives simply fail, and it is not because there is no change process in place: it is often because of 'the people side', because of leadership. In this week we start with a self-perspective on change and included neuroscience to explain what change does to our brain. (We always wanted to include a neuroscience topic in LeaderMOOC, so this was our chance!) Then we move to leading other people through change and transformation. It might seem weird we include a topic of resiliency and managing your energy in this week as well, but it makes a lot of sense: change is continuous and we need to manage our energy for a change marathon, rather than a one time sprint. Also changing our behaviors and habits will drain our energy, so it is very important to keep an eye on our resiliency.
As a note: this week we did an experiment to address one of the suggestions people made in the mid-MOOC survey. We changed one of the discussion topics to a small group discussion because lot of people felt overwhelmed (especially in the first weeks) with the magnitude of entries in the forums. But that 'change' created a lot of confusion because it was something new and different in the MOOC. A good way to experience a change, no?
What does it take to design a week?
We basically only had the template in place. We used this format for all weeks, so we also knew we'd use if for this new week:- Setting the stage: on the first page we have one of our hosts (Paula or Kat) give an overview of the importance of the topic of the week, a short introduction, and the subtopics that we'll explore in the week. Every week centers around an essential question.
- Sub-topics: then we have usually 4 sub-topics related to the theme of the week. Most sub-topcis will be followed by an activity such as a discussion forum. The last sub-topic is always a research spotlight. Every page has an entry paragraph, a main video, some bullet points for further information.
- Making it real: At the end, the host comes back to bring it all together in the outro video and makes sense of the topics. We then invite people to make up their mind on the essential question of the week. We also include a few tips on how to apply the week's content in daily life.
- The roadmap assignment: this is followed by the weekly peer reviewed assignment with one question on insight and one question on application (your one simple goal...)
- Where to go from here: extra resources (paying and free), and a preview on next's week
I don't have an exact number of the hours we have spend creating this week, but it is quite a bit. We have weekly meetings with the project team, and daily status and updates. Most evenings are spent on the MOOC (either to take part in the discussions, or to create the week's ahead). When a week is 'near-done', we all put on our critical eyes and go through it, making suggestions for improvement. And this process worked again, week 6 'leading in times of change' was on time!
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