Addressing the challenges of a bilingually delivered online course: design and development of the Australia China Trade (ACT) MOOC

Abstract

This paper describes a design-based research program exploring a MOOC designed for delivery in two languages, English and Chinese. Learning resources, online discussions and activities, and live synchronous sessions with topic experts form the basis of the bilingual delivery. The goal of the MOOC was threefold: to engage leaners in bilateral Australia-China trade discussion activities, develop reusable open learning objects, and to explore bilingual online education delivery. Over the course of the initial iteration of this research, learning technologies, resources, delivery platforms, and communication processes were selected and incorporated into the design. In theory the bilingual delivery of large-scale online education courses can utilize tools that allow for cross-language learner interactions. In practice the development of resources, activities, and shared MOOC learner artifacts present numerous challenges for both synchronous and asynchronous components. Further research to identify technologies and processes that support bilingual online course development deliveries which support learner-learner interactions efficiently is needed.