Massive Open Online Week for Collaborative Digital Education
▶Summary
Higher education lacked fully digital, interactive, and time-bound learning formats that foster real-world innovation. Traditional MOOCs were passive, while bootcamps and Entrepreneurial Weeks were location-dependent. MOOW CODE was launched as a novel concept to address this gap by introducing the MOOW (Massive Open Online Week) format. It is a structured, engaging, innovative, and impact-driven approach to online learning and co-creation. The project equipped universities with methods, tools, and guidelines to implement MOOWs, ensuring accessibility, collaboration, and practical application. By kick-starting a MOOW movement across Europe, it provided a unified framework for high-quality, topic-focused digital experiences that empowered learners, educators, and innovators to develop new ideas and solutions.
▶Objectives
MOOW CODE aimed to drive digital transformation and innovation in higher education (HE) by developing and piloting the MOOW (Massive Open Online Week) format. It sought to promote entrepreneurship, product creation, and project management skills among students, educators, and university staff through MOOW Bootcamps. Additionally, the project aimed to strengthen university-society connections in the digital era by organising public events and to enhance institutional capacity for large-scale digital learning through dedicated university staff workshops. It also addressed mental well-being in HE (Pilot MOOW 1) and promoted Sustainability in Digital Education (Pilot MOOW 2). Furthermore, MOOW CODE fostered international cooperation and knowledge sharing in digital education by facilitating collaboration among project partners. Ultimately, the project aimed to initiate a Europe-wide MOOW movement, ensuring a lasting impact on digital education and co-creation in universities.
▶Impact
Key outputs delivered: 1. The MOOW Framework: A comprehensive Guidelines for Organizers and a MOOW Playbook to support universities in organizing and executing MOOWs (Massive Open Online Weeks) designed for collaboration and co-creation. They are available in English, German, Latvian, Danish, Polish, Romanian and Italian. 2. The MOOW Online Platform: A digital space where all MOOW activities, collaborations, and interactions took place. This platform serves as a central hub for connecting participants, fostering collaboration, and managing various aspects of the MOOW events. 3. University Staff Training Pack: Training materials and an online MOOC was designed to equip staff with practical knowledge and tools. A hybrid 2-day training workshop was also organized in Münster, Germany, with staff members tasked with Pilot MOOWs at the partner universities. The workshop activities were designed to contribute to MOOW preparations. 4. Pilot MOOW 1 was delivered and it focused on mental health on university campuses, addressing the importance of student well-being and providing strategies to improve mental health within the context of digital education. In total 18 ideas were developed and 101 students participated in Bootcamps. 5. Pilot MOOW 2 then concentrated on sustainability in digital education, exploring environmentally responsible practices and developing sustainable learning solutions in the online education space. In total 20 ideas were developed and 96 students participated in Bootcamps. 6. Multiplier Events and Dissemination activities to promote the MOOW model. UNINA hosted in Naples in total 101 participants. In Poland, 55 participants took part in the event. In Latvia, the multiplier event atracted 60 attendees.