The Coach Developer as a Learning Designer: An Insight into the development of the ICOACHKIDSTM Massive Open Online Courses

The role of the Coach Developer (CD) has broadened over the last two decades. Today CDs fulfil multiple functions such as tutor, facilitator, expert or mentor. They also play a significant part as learning designers. CDs are normally not trained to perform this role. This practical advances paper provides an overview of the role and required skills of learning designers, specifically in the context of the creation of an online coach development resource: the ICOACHKIDSTM Massive Open Online Courses. The paper offers a novel description of the development process. It describes four stages including: i) agreeing target audience and learning outcomes; ii) choosing the pedagogical model; iii) selection of technological solutions and partners; and iv) content development. For each stage, the working parameters, associated challenges, and the learnings gained by CDs are described. Each of these phases present unique challenges and require different competences. We conclude that, learning design, especially in relation to MOOCs (and perhaps more broadly, online), must become part of the CD development curriculum going forward.