Systemic Tensions in the MOOC Design Cycle: An Activity Systems Analysis upon Implementing edX for Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

This report presents the activity systems analysis of the general MOOC design process adopted by a multidisciplinary team for delivering edX courses to Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This report builds on Freire’s (2020) exploratory case study, which applied work-based learning theory and activity systems theory to determine whether and how 20 participants selected from the Hemispheric Development Fund’s MOOC design team (HDFx) experienced work-based learning through their collaboration during the MOOC program’s initial professionalization period. Activity systems models are developed to identify systemic tensions for each of the five phases in the MOOC design cycle: Needs Assessment, Instructional Design, Production, Implementation, and Evaluation. Such contradictions are further analyzed to formulate three main system-wide tensions that acted as triggers for the work-based learning reported by participants: 1) skill gaps for implementing the edX platform, 2) edX’s limited techno-pedagogical affordances, and 3) organizational structures inhibiting multidisciplinary collaboration among participants and limiting the professionalization of the HDFx MOOC program. The report concludes by integrating the theoretical underpinnings of the case study with its four primary findings.