In today’s episode, Chase DiMarco talks with Renée Hendriks, a PhD candidate at the Center of Innovation for Medical Education at the Leiden University Medical Center. Renée has done a great deal of research into MOOCs (Massive Open Online Classes) and what makes them effective. Together they discuss the evolution of online learning, the importance of course design and the future of the medium for medical education. When it comes to online learning, it is becoming more prevalent and Renée saw a need to look at its effectiveness. Chase talks about the push back he has seen against online learning and Renée acknowledges this by explaining that with proper design and implementation, online courses are just as effective as face-to -face learning. Speaking about her research, Renée tells us that she has examined 33 different medical MOOCs on a variety of subjects to see what they offer. As well as quality, range of topics and assessment methods, she noticed that they often had teaching modes that facilitated construction of knowledge. This is something often missing in other MOOCs. An important factor in any MOOC is creating active learning. Renée believes that to be effective, the courses have to include activation and motivation. There is also scope for creating greater personalization of learning experiences through student data analysis. Staying on the topic of student issues, Chase and Renée end the episode by discussing how utilizing the 11 principles of course design can allow for educators to create engaging, trackable learning. Renée hopes that the future of education is geared towards a greater emphasis on self-regulated learning to create a strong knowledge base. Find Renée’s article here: Twelve Tips for Integrating Massive Open Online Course Content into Classroom Teaching