SPOC & webinars

Initial situation

The objective of this course was to set up a distance learning course allowing to obtain ECTS credits. The teacher therefore chose to develop a SPOC (Small Private Online Course) rather than a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) with a certificate evaluation. The proposed self-training, with the privileged use of videos, is coupled with webinars allowing the follow-up of the learners.

Project implementation

This online course, offered twice a year, is based on 4 modules that can be followed independently. With a total duration of 20 hours of videos and approximately 80 hours of personal work, this course covers the theme of finance in 5 months (1 hour of video and 4 hours of personal work per week). It allows students to obtain 3 ECTS credits following its validation.

The particularity of this course lies in its abundance of videos: 150 capsules (of an average length of 8 minutes) are offered to students. The main speaker remains the teacher, but many practitioners active in the finance sector have been invited to take part in the videos. These videos complement the teaching by giving examples of applications.

To assist the student in his or her learning, each video is accompanied by a PDF document summarizing the main elements covered. Within the videos, the teacher pauses to ask a question to the students, who are invited to take a reflective break for self-evaluation. A forum is also available for students to ask questions. In addition, webinars of 1.5 hours through the zoom tool are offered 2 to 3 times per session (or even more if requested by students). They allow the teacher to constantly update the course with news, media articles and videos. They are an opportunity for students to discuss and ask questions about the organization of the course.

The evaluation of the course is done in the form of a 1.5 hours MCQ with 20 questions. Until now, students had to come to the UNIGE to take the test, but with the constant increase in the number of students, the teacher is considering switching the assessment to online. However, as this format is not completely in line with the teacher’s pedagogical objectives, he is considering offering a more reflective personal exam in the next sessions. This could involve students developing a theme with a common thread suggested by the teacher, in relation to the course but also to current events.

Thoughts and advice

The teacher draws attention to the fact that a course of this format requires a bank of short educational videos (5-6 slides and 8 minutes maximum) suitable for self-study. Simply providing recorded lectures is not suitable. A good practice for the constitution of these videos is to announce the content in the introduction, then in the conclusion to make a summary of the important points covered and to announce the next videos in the opening. To avoid videos being too long, do not hesitate to divide the subject matter into several themes, even if these could have been covered in a single video. This helps to pace the students’ learning and maintain their attention. The teacher also explains that he favours videos with a humorous tone and original demonstrations to hold the attention and make an impression. For example, he did not hesitate to spill a bottle of ketchup on a burger to illustrate the phenomenon of “ketchup inflation” or to balance glasses on a ruler and have them fall over to explain the duration of a sovereign bond.

Based on the many video shoots that have been carried out, the teacher advises always using two cameras (one from the front and one from the side). In addition to making the video more dynamic by alternating shots, this form of filming makes it easier to edit when shots are missed by limiting the risk of sound cuts or image skipping. He also emphasized that it is an advantage to know the material well enough not to have to use a prompter, as this makes the speech more fluid and less monotonous. He insists that a course of this format is a big investment of time as it takes a whole day to shoot about five 8-minute videos. Although this requires a large budget, where possible it is advantageous to have a professional filming/editing team (the green mouse, MV4). If this team has an image coach who helps to make the videos dynamic, this is an invaluable advantage.

The platform used offers a follow-up of the students with information on the date of the last video viewing. This information allows the teacher to identify students who are dropping out and to motivate those who need it.

To respond to the students’ desire to meet before the last session of the course dedicated to the exam, the teacher has set up an introductory session in person. This takes place at the Fédération des Entreprises Romandes (FER). It is an opportunity for students who have already registered to attend a presentation by the teacher, to meet and exchange ideas. It is also an opportunity for the teacher to present the training to potential future students who join the second part of this meeting.

Student feedback

“This Financial Markets Mastery course is ideal for diving into the complex world of finance and acquiring a solid foundation in a fun and flexible way through the very practical video course format. Although introductory, this course covers several key topics that allow you to make sense of current economic events and their impact on the financial markets.”