“The writing and editing process relies on a lot of face to face,” said Patrick Hayes, senior communications manager at MSUglobal, an entrepreneurial unit in the Office of the Provost that assists researchers in developing, finding funding for and implementing academic ideas into practice. “They’re trying to tailor a course that is 100 percent online, but with the same amount of engagement.”

Feedback from instructors and peers plays a core role in improving the student’s writing skills, according to a press release.

The students will dive into many forms of communication, including persuasive writing, narrative writing, summarizing texts and organizing thoughts in the writing process, the press release said.

The course is MSU’s first MOOC in the humanities and was developed in partnership with MSUglobal.

“We hope the course can answer the question, ‘Is it possible to teach and learn writing online and at scale?,’” Grabill said in a press release. “Students in the course will be improving their own writing skills, but they’ll also be helping us create a new kind of experience for teaching writing to others.”