Need
Turn a dense theory course into an active creative experience for two audiences with radically different opportunities for interaction and feedback.
DM-GY 6043: Theories of Media and Technology
DM-GY 6043: Theories of Media and Technology
How do you make media theory feel alive for both a graduate seminar and a global MOOC?
This was my first course as instructional design lead—and a fairly ambitious way to stretch beyond my Educational Technologist title. We developed two versions simultaneously: a discussion-rich course for NYU's online MS in Integrated Digital Media and a self-directed edX course within its MicroMasters pathway. One shared intellectual vision had to work for different learners, platforms, feedback models, and levels of instructor presence without becoming a diluted compromise.
AT A GLANCE
- Context
Educational Technologist (Instructional Design Lead)New York University & edX2019-2020
Solution
Preserve one learning arc, from critical reading to research, synthesis, creation, and informed critique, while translating presence, interaction, and feedback differently for a live graduate seminar and a global, self-directed MOOC.
Deliverable
Two coherent, platform-specific courses built from a shared 14-module core combining Rise-based lessons, discussions, hands-on activities, and scaffolded creative projects.
Impact
The edX course brought graduate-level media theory to thousands of learners worldwide and contributed to a credit-bearing MicroMasters pathway into NYU’s Integrated Digital Media master’s program.
Takeaway
A strong learning vision can survive platform constraints, but scale changes the economics of presence. Thoughtful automation and peer review help, but they cannot make a deeply personal creative course effortless or infinitely sustainable.
Methods & Tools: Dual-platform course design · Articulate Rise · NYU Classes · edX · Open Response Assessment · Rubric design · Creative production · Accessibility