#MOOCMonday summer series: How Corona changed online learning

In the third part of our e-learning summer series called #MOOCMonday, Prof. Dr. Marc-Oliver Pahl explains to which extent the pandemic is responsible for making distant learning formats extra popular and shares his most important insights from 15 years of designing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). With his award-winning teaching method, he, for example, created “iLabX” – and has already explained the mechanisms behind the internet to more than 5,000 learners worldwide.

Prof. Dr. Pahl, how have teaching and learning styles changed since the Corona pandemic?

When I started developing distant learning formats in 2003, the field was more seen as a toy. The confinements changed this by 360 degrees: now distant learning with MOOCs and virtual collaborations have become the standard.

I am happy to see that more and more colleagues at the Technical University of Munich invest energy in distant learning. I am even more happy to see that our colleagues at TUM ProLehre are giving them such good guidance as distant learning is not just broadcasting a lecture – it requires expertise and needs to be thought-through. Good online courses require a different teaching style. My MOOC “iLabX – The Internet Masterclass” shows e-learners what is possible with more than 15 years of experience in the format.

What are your experiences after 15 years of MOOC development?

Creating a MOOC allowed me to offer an even more efficient format for learners and teachers. With “iLabX – the Internet Masterclass”, I managed to channel my more than 15 years distant learning experience into a unique format with appealing and crisp content, packaged in videos, texts, quizzes, and lots of direct hands-on exercises in a dedicated environment that we created. With a MOOC you can have a big reach, which is great, but being a creator you should not underestimate the personal time invest it needs.

Who can benefit from the MOOC “iLabX”?

With “iLabX – the Internet Masterclass”, our goal was to cover a broad audience from computer science students at university to technically interested people at school or in the job. The profiles of our more than 5,000 learners show that we were successful. So basically everyone who knows how to use a computer and is curious can participate – depending on your pre-knowledge you need more or less time investment but all can fully succeed. This learning success is part of the iLab methodology I am developing since 2003. At the end of the course you do not only understand how the Internet works but you actually built its core in our experimentation environment on your computer – you become a true Internet master.

About the course

The Internet is the world’s biggest computer network. It connects everything, from people to machines, in all areas, from the art world to the stock exchange, everywhere on this planet and beyond. It has become one of our most important infrastructures. But how does this Internet that enables so many things in our daily lives actually work? After taking part in iLabX, you will not only understand the mechanisms behind modern computer networks, but you will create the Internet yourself on your own computer! iLabX uses an award-winning methodology to teach you how the Internet works. Find out more here.

About Prof. Dr. Marc-Oliver Pahl

Prof. Dr. Marc-Oliver Pahl is heading the IoT Smart Space research team at the Chair for Network Architectures and Services at Technical University of Munich. He also heads the Chair of Cybersecurity for Critical Networked Infrastructures at the Technical University IMT Atlantique in Rennes, France and is an adjunct professor of Carleton University in Canada. Marc-Oliver’s research focus is on a holistic approach to cybersecurity. He is an experienced teacher and an eLearning pioneer, holding several teaching awards.