Flinders University is leading the way in online video-based learning thanks to the high production quality of its new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), “The Biz Playbook”.

The new MOOC, which shows entrepreneurs how to set up a business, was shot and edited by Flinders Creations in partnership with Flinders Partners and Flinders Business School.

It takes budding entrepreneurs through the business planning process step-by-step, following the story of a “prospective entrepreneur”, played by Flinders Drama Centre graduate Casey Ellis.

Students watch and learn as Ms Ellis is advised and assisted by Flinders Partners Managing Director Anthony Francis and Flinders Business School Lecturer David Medlow-Smith about how to turn her idea into a viable business proposition.

Flinders Creations Producer, Dr Matt Hawkins, said the course was created as a taster for high school students – or anyone else who wants a go at entrepreneurship.

“What we really wanted to do was to open up a dialogue between potential students and the business organisations at Flinders,” Dr Hawkins said.

“We didn’t want to replace an undergraduate course, instead we wanted to give MOOC participants a high quality taste of a discipline that could inform their choices about where they want to go next with their education.

“By the time someone finishes the course, they will have a good idea if their business idea is viable. In addition, it flags Flinders Partners and the Flinders New Venture Institute (NVI) as important resources.”

MOOC participants can be confident that they are in good hands with their video advisers after Flinders Partners Managing Director Anthony Francis took the Best Entrepreneurial Education of the Year award for Venture Dorm at the recent Business/Higher Education Round Table awards.

The Biz Playbook also includes advice from famous South Australians including Maggie Beer and Po Ling Yeoh, who have both participated in the NVI’s Entrepreneurs in Conversation series in the past year.

Dr Hawkins said the thing that really set the Biz Playbook apart from other online video learning courses was the high quality of the video content and editing.

“Often the video content in MOOCs is low quality and involves a lecturer looking into a locked off camera, but the Biz Playbook is professionally shot and edited to be much more dynamic and engaging learning experience than anything else I’ve seen,” he said.

“It’s the product of a months-long collaboration which has allowed us to conceptualise, develop and really refine a really great resource for students.

“The result is a flexible, interactive format which can be adapted to a wide range of subjects.”