APPLYING A MOOC AS A PREPARATORY COURSE FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Students of open distance universities have different cognitive background when they start an undergraduate program. Moreover, they may have a long time away from any form of education and being in a need of recall past knowledge. Based on the above, the Hellenic Open University (HOU) designed and applied a pilot course for first-year students, enrolled in Computer Science undergraduate program, in an effort to empower their knowledge before starting the program. In order to support this effort, the HOU used MOOC technologies for provide a distance learning digital course which students can asynchronously attend on their own pace. The course was optional and the students were able to attend some or all the sections. This study outlines the phases of designing and developing the MOOC, describes the technical infrastructure used and presents the students' perception about the contribution of the course in their studies. The results show that a MOOC constitutes a useful tool, based on students' evaluation results, for preparing them to start their undergraduate program.