Occupational health in developing countries – a massive open online course

Abstract

In 2015 the University of Bergen launched the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Occupational Health in Developing Countries. The objective of this study is to describe the geographic and demographic diversity of the course participants, as well as the course participation activity with emphasis on low- and middle-income country (LMIC) learners. All data on MOOC participation were provided by the MOOC platform FutureLearn. Out of totally 5866 registrants, 72.4% attended from a LMIC geo-location, and 71.9% of the 768 course completers were LMIC residents. Most of the participants were young, well-educated and employed. Most were employed within the health and social sector. The gender distribution was almost equal, except from a higher female non-completer proportion, especially among LMIC participants. The MOOC succeeded in reaching its LMIC target group.