  Massive Open Online Courseware (MOOCs) appeared in 2008 and grew considerably
in the past decade, now reaching millions of students and professionals all
over the world. MOOCs do not replace other educational forms. Instead, they
complement them by offering a powerful educational tool that can reach students
that, otherwise, would not have access to that information. Nevertheless,
designing and implementing a successful MOOC is not straightforward. Simply
recording traditional classes is an approach that does not work, since the
conditions in which a MOOC student learns are very different from the
conventional classroom. In particular, dropout rates in MOOCs are, normally, at
least an order of magnitude higher than in conventional courses. In this paper,
we analyze data from 7 successful MOOCs that have attracted over 150,000
students in the past years. The analysis led to the proposal of a set of
guidelines to help instructors in designing more effective MOOCs. These results
contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field, bring new insights,
and pose new questions for future research.
