Public perceptions towards MOOCs on social media: an alternative perspective to understand personal learning experiences of MOOCs

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study attempted to assess public perceptions of and interest in MOOCs by examining how Weibo increases public discussion of MOOCs as well as by interpreting how individual learners talk about their learning experiences. Over 4,000 microblog posts were collected and analysed between 2013 and 2018. The findings showed that Weibo is used as a public service medium to augment the publicity of the MOOC movement and increase the accessibility of MOOC portals. The results also demonstrated that Weibo acts as a space for learners to share their personal learning experiences, which reflect aspects of autonomous, self-regulated, interactive and cooperative learning. By posting on Weibo, close peer connections and learning groups were established to encourage MOOC learning. This study’s findings further the scholarly understanding of how MOOCs are discussed on social media and address an important gap around what is known in one of the largest and most under-researched sites of informal online learning.