Designing an Online Course on Digital Science Communication for Researchers: Experiences from DILAN

KEYNOTE PLENARY - This presentation explores design principles for creating an online course on digital science communication tailored for researchers across disciplines and across countries. By drawing from experiences of DILAN, an Erasmus+ project, which aims to aid researchers in effectively communicating their work to diverse audiences, the talk will highlight some key lessons for design principles and the process of course development in an international collaborative team. We begin by discussing key design principles for online education, such as interactivity, accessibility, and engagement. Adaptability was a core focus in the course design and development process to ensure the course could be taught across various institutional and cultural settings. This required developing flexible modules mindful of different academic and cultural contexts. Workshopping the course with DILAN team members was instrumental in refining its content and structure, integrating feedback from diverse institutional and disciplinary contexts. The course's pilot phase in multiple settings provided insights into its adaptability, suggesting which ways the course may be modified to meet local needs. Preliminary results suggest mostly successful adaptation, fostering participant engagement and peer learning, but also points to some challenges that involve clarifying expectations among educators and participants about the course objectives. The presentation concludes with lessons from the pilot, addressing ongoing modifications and clarifications.