Specialist interview

Initial situation

This is a new type of MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) accessible to a wide audience and dealing with a current topic. The interest here is to be able to transmit quality knowledge at a distance through video sequences. These videos adopt a broad historical perspective and a comparative approach, which allows students to take a step back from the subject at hand (violence and religions).

Project implementation

This MOOC consists of 60 video sequences of about 10 min each, all subtitled in French and Arabic. They are spread over 6 weeks of teaching.

In order to allow students to decentralize and approach different perspectives, multiple sources and expert points of view are offered. In concrete terms, these videos feature 25 international specialists who explain the subject in simple terms and then offer a personal analysis while taking a broad historical perspective (2000 years). These videos also provide tools for reflection and discussion among the students. The forum on which students are strongly encouraged to exchange allows them to present their possible questions, but also to create debates and thus to feed their reflection. As the students come from different backgrounds (60% are non-academics), this heterogeneity enriches the comparison of their sometimes divergent points of view.

Evaluation is done through verification quizzes at the end of each video sequence as well as validation quizzes at the end of a week of teaching.

Thoughts and advice

This project involves 25 specialists in the field from different backgrounds, who had to be mobilized and interviewed. It therefore required a certain personal (teacher in charge of the course) and logistical investment. Similarly, the format as well as the articulation of the content presented had to be the subject of significant reflection due to the nature of this content and the audience for which it is intended.

Student feedback

“In six weeks, the teacher and his assistants led us through several millennia of intercultural and religious sharing and exchange. Thanks to them, I discovered many new elements, clarified some grey areas, consolidated or abandoned certain convictions. This is how rich this journey has been. “I have been looking for a course like this for years in order to get a perspective on violence in religions beyond my own opinions. What really stood out for me in this course was the diversity of the speakers and their ability to convey a clear and enriching message. I am in the inter-religious and ecumenical field myself having studied at the PISAI in Rome, at the Pontifical Oriental Institute and such a course was lacking and thank you for the contribution.” ”(…) a few words by way of personal assessment. First of all, I can only thank the architects of such a program, Professor Grandjean and his entire team. I am aware of the amount of work and organization required. Other COURSERA MOOCs that I have started́ to follow involve only one speaker, the organizer himself.”