Synergizing the academic credit bank system and the Thai national digital learning massive open online course platform for lifelong learning: A data-mining approach

With the rapid development of network technology, it is inevitable that educational resources will be online and open. Since the first year of the 2012 US massive open online courses (MOOC), many countries have been committed to quality MOOC courses. As one of the three major university MOOC platforms, the Chinese university MOOC platform has been attracting the excellent courses of famous universities in mainland China and Taiwan after four years of development since its opening in 2014. This paper uses the literature method, data statistics method, content analysis method and other research methods to analyze the colleges and universities, course types, courses and contents, teaching methods, number of students selected, etc. of the Chinese university MOOC platform, and summarizes the characteristics of free resource sharing, micro-course design, learning behavior control, and interaction. It points out that there are fewer special courses in the famous schools, the repetition of courses, the lack of practical courses, the fragmentation of knowledge points, the single form of micro-courses, and the lack of depth and breadth of discussion. The article puts forward some suggestions for the school of MOOC curriculum development, the teachers who started the course, and the MOOC platform of the Chinese university. Suggestions for schools are: optimizing MOOC courses, improving course quality, strengthening practical curriculum development, multi-school collaboration and other proposals; the recommendations for MOOC course teachers are: reorganizing knowledge systems, strengthening practical applications, and improving picture quality big data analysis of students' learning behaviors and other suggestions; suggestions for Chinese university MOOC platform are: expanding platform functions, coordinating curriculum construction, big data sharing, etc. Article is intended to cause schools, teachers, and the importance of MOOC platform management curriculum development, improve the quality of MOOC courses to stimulate learner motivation through MOOC course of study, enhance the comprehensive literacy learners, play high-quality MOOC courses promote fairness in education.

Sustainable energy is one of the biggest global challenges today. This paper discusses how we can promote adolescents’ learning of sustainable energy with the help of an international massive open online course (MOOC). The aim of this case study is to understand: (i) What do the adolescents find relevant in the MOOC course about sustainable energy? and (ii) What are the opportunities and challenges of the MOOC for the adolescents to learn sustainable energy? In our study, 80 voluntary adolescents around the world, who were at least 15 year old, took part in two surveys. The themes of our MOOC course were, e.g., sustainable growth, solar power, wind power, biofuel production and smart power generation. This 38 work-hour, free of charge, online course includes an introduction video, interviews of specialists, lecture videos, reading materials of the newest research and multiple choice questions on the topics. Research data was classified by using content analysis. The study indicates that adolescents feel that both the MOOC course and sustainable energy as a subject are relevant to them. Their decision to take part in an online course was mostly influenced by individual relevance and partly influenced by both societal and vocational relevance, according to the relevancy theory used. The MOOC was experienced to be relevant for the three following reasons: (i) good content (e.g., energy production) and implementation of the course; (ii) the course makes it possible to study in a new way; and (iii) the course is personally useful. The characteristics of the MOOC, such as being available anywhere and anytime, free access, and online learning, bringing out a flexible, new way of learning and thus promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in the context of sustainable energy at school level around the world. This MOOC provided the school students with choice-based learning and expanded their learning opportunities in understanding sustainable energy. In the designing of MOOCs for studying sustainable energy, it is important to take the following things into consideration: (i) the balance between theory and practical examples; (ii) the support for interaction; and (iii) other support (e.g., technical and learning strategies) for students. Communication with other learners and getting feedback from teachers and tutors remain the vital challenges for the developers of MOOCs in the future.

The ultimate goals of education and training are the development of learners’ learning outcomes. The prospect of achieving high academic results should function as a driving force for students to be engaged in learning. Recognition of the factors affecting their learning satisfaction should facilitate their learning process, especially in online learning environments such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The purpose of this study was to examine the interactions among students’ characteristics, their perceived values of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies, satisfaction and academic performances. A mixed-methods design was employed to investigate the issue under exploration. The 227 surveyed responses were collected from English majors who had experience in MOOCs and were studying at a private university in Can Tho city in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Data from the survey was analysed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25 for the correlations between their characteristics and the quantitative variables, while Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was performed to examine the perceived effects of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies on their satisfaction and academic outcomes. Qualitative data was collected through open-ended survey questions and analysed based on thematic analysis guidelines. The results revealed that SRL strategies such as strategic planning, time management, environment structuring, and help-seeking positively influenced both student satisfaction and academic performance. Notably, the study identified flexible learning time, self-paced learning, and the ability to choose study locations as significant factors enhancing student satisfaction. Conversely, limited social interaction, poor internet connectivity, and low motivation were found to be demotivating factors. Additionally, the study highlighted the importance of gender and prior online learning experience in shaping students' satisfaction and performance in MOOCs. While gender showed no significant correlation with SRL strategies, satisfaction, or academic performance, prior experience in online learning environments, such as the number of completed MOOC courses, was significantly correlated with better academic outcomes. However, a weak negative correlation between students' academic years and their satisfaction was observed, suggesting that more advanced students might face increased academic pressure and higher expectations, leading to lower satisfaction levels. The research underscores the critical role of SRL strategies in facilitating effective learning in MOOCs, especially in the context of English major students who often lack direct interaction with instructors and peers. Training students in SRL strategies can help them better manage their learning processes, overcome challenges, and achieve their academic goals. This study contributes to the understanding of how student characteristics and SRL strategies affect learning in online environments and suggests practical implications for enhancing MOOC experiences. Future research should investigate additional SRL strategies and include a larger, more diverse sample to provide a more comprehensive understanding of their impact on student satisfaction and academic performance in MOOCs. Furthermore, exploring the specific challenges faced by different academic disciplines in MOOCs could offer more tailored solutions to improve online learning experiences.

There is no exaggeration in stating that massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become an integral part of education today. After the pandemic and emergence of the new normal, sudden rise of online learning is witnessed. MOOC, which was an idea, has become an industry now. MOOC, which emerged around 2010s as a movement to democratize learning, has become the next big thing in education now. However, there are very few studies or published data regarding MOOC learners and their experience of learning. The purpose of the present study is to conduct comparative analysis of MOOC platforms in terms of features, content, and user satisfaction. The researchers in the present study conducted an online survey of 250 students and interviews of 30 students of Charotar University of Science and Technology (Gujarat, India) who enrolled for MOOCs offered on five different platforms—Coursera, EdX, Future Learn, Udemy, and Alison. In addition, 10 teachers who integrated MOOC courses in their course transaction were interviewed. It was found that, the chief reasons for undertaking a MOOC are academic requirement, professional development, and interest in the subject matter. The esthetic and simplified presentation of content and ease of access are the major reasons for the popularity of a few platforms. Also, it was found that, MOOC has abysmal completion rates, and a heavy proportion of MOOC attendees does not complete the courses they enrolled for, and the reasons found for the same are lack of motivation and consistency. This study provides actionable insights for online education in general, MOOC in particular.KeywordsMOOC platformsOnline learningTeaching pedagogyInformation systems

The COVID Pandemic was a big hit not only for the education sector but also finance sector, industrial sector etc. Due to this adverse situation the physical classes were abruptly stopped and there was a chaos. During this arduous situation universities switched to E-learning. Students started taking MOOC courses. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are online courses offered by diverse educators with the goal of enabling everyone to access content at reasonable prices from any location. This paper presents how Universities can influence students to enroll in courses. For this study purpose students at a University in Pune provided the data in the form of Feedback and Suggestions. Students can enroll in a Course for one of two reasons: to learn new things and develop their abilities, or to gain University Credits. The results showed that many students were completing MOOC courses for credit than for personal growth, a strong correlation between enrolling in a MOOC course for university credit and successful completion is observed. A strong need for University teachers to offer their expertise on these platforms to ensure global knowledge sharing was also observed. Keywords— MOOC; Self Learning; MOOC Platforms; Performance.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have rapidly emerged as a new platform for online learning. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) must now determine if MOOC courses should be accepted as course credit. The authors propose a framework for determining if a MOOC course helps students develop the 21st century skills promoted through global learning. This framework is centered on the conditions for global learning – i.e. a process of diverse people collaboratively analyzing and addressing problems that transcend borders – and facilitated through the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model. Any course that attends to these aspects should produce global learning outcomes that fall within one or more of the following three categories: learning about the world, learning with others, and learning to act.

This study explores the role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in supporting and enabling professional learning, or learning for work. The research examines how professionals self-regulate their learning in MOOCs. The study is informed by contemporary theories of professional learning, that argue that conventional forms of learning are no longer effective in knowledge intensive domains. As work roles evolve and learning for work becomes continual and personalised, self-regulation is becoming a critical element of professional learning. Yet, established forms of professional learning generally have not taken advantage of the affordances of social, semantic technologies to support self-regulated learning. MOOCs present a potentially useful approach to professional learning that may be designed to encourage self-regulated learning. The study is contextualised within ‘Fundamentals of clinical trials', a MOOC for health professionals designed and run by the Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard Catalyst, the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center, and offered by edX. The research design builds on the authors' previous studies in the areas of Technology Enhanced Learning and Professional Learning and in particular, research which explored the learning behaviours of education professionals in the Change 11 MOOC. The previous studies demonstrated a link between individual learners SRL profile and their goal setting behaviour in the Change 11 MOOC as well as uncovering other factors which influenced their engagement with the MOOC environment. The present study extends the original study by further focusing on specific aspects of self-regulation identified by the Change11 studies and our parallel studies of self-regulated learning in knowledge workers. The analysis of learner behaviour in the Fundamentals of Clinical Trials is complemented by additional exploration of the design considerations of the MOOC, to determine the extent to which course design can support or inhibit self-regulation of learning. The study poses three research questions: How are Massive Open Online Courses currently designed to support self-regulated learning? What self-regulated learning strategies and behaviours do professionals adopt? and How can MOOCs be designed to encourage professionals to self-regulate their learning? Validated methods and instruments from the original study will be adapted and employed. The research is unique in providing evidence around two critical aspects of MOOCs that are not well understood: the skills and dispositions necessary for self-regulated learning in MOOC environments, and how MOOCs can be designed to encourage the development and emergence of SRL behaviours.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) introduce a way of transcending formal education by realizing technology-enhanced formats of learning and instruction and by granting access to an audience way beyond higher education. However, although MOOCs have been reported as an efficient and important educational tool, there is a number of issues and problems related to their educational impact. More specifically, there is an important number of dropouts during a course, little participation, and lack of students’ motivation and engagement overall. This paper updates the progress of the European project called “colMOOC” that aims to enhance the MOOCs experience by integrating collaborative settings based on conversational pedagogical agents to support both students and teachers during a MOOC course. Conversational pedagogical agents guide and support student dialogue using natural language both in individual and collaborative settings. Integrating this type of conversational agents into MOOCs to trigger peer interaction in discussion groups can considerably increase the engagement and the commitment of online students and, consequently, reduce MOOCs dropout rate. The paper reports on the first evaluation experience of incorporating synchronous collaborative activities mediated by conversational pedagogical agents into a real MOOC with a massive international participation. Evaluation results are statistically described in terms of participation, performance and satisfaction. The research reported in this paper is currently undertaken within the project colMOOC funded by the European Commission.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a new unique open learning style, are made possible by recent developments in gamification, increased bandwidth, mobile devices, and technology. This has allowed the creation of self-mediated learning, which combines these technological developments to allow individuals to experience high-bandwidth applications and simulations online. With the 2013 credit recommendation made by the American Council on Education (ACE), MOOCs are now primed to have great impact on traditional higher education business practices. While various open learning initiatives have been around for decades, the growth, availability, and popularity of MOOCs are poised to impact public higher education academic models. The MOOC courses benefit from the rising dissatisfaction in the cost and value of a higher education degree creating a watershed moment for higher education. While much is being learned about MOOCs and their capabilities, this research seeks to understand how higher education technology leaders decide when an academic technology, such as MOOCs are ready to be implemented on campus. This qualitative inductive research seeks to understand, through narrative inquiry, how a senior higher education technology leader makes decisions in a rapidly evolving cyber and academic landscape where they must execute on institutional strategic plans that reference technology broadly. This research seeks to understand how senior technology leaders work in and with their institutions to decide whether to take a proactive or reactive stance to a new technology using the recent MOOC as a fixed point.

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) users continue to rise in number globally, and accordingly, the electronic word of mouth (eWOM) for MOOCs is an important source of information for MOOCs learners, but research on the effects of MOOCs eWOM is still lacking. Therefore, from the perspective of group size and group recognition in the MOOCs online review forum and the internal relationships in the MOOCs course learning forum, this paper studies the influence mechanism of MOOCs eWOM on the number of registrations and completions. First, according to the literature review, based on the number of online reviews, the online rating valence and eWOM publishers in the MOOCs online review forum, as well as the number of posts and the number of teaching assistants in the MOOCs course learning forum, research hypotheses are proposed in this study to construct a conceptual model. Second, Coursera is the typical MOOCs platform that is selected as the research object to obtain data from November 2018 to August 2019. Third, after preprocessing the data, on the basis of the Hausman test, the corresponding fixed effect of an econometric model is established, and Stata is used to process the data to verify the research hypotheses. Finally, according to the research conclusions related to eWOM, to improve the number of registrations and completions of MOOCs, development suggestions are proposed for MOOCs platform providers and MOOCs course providers, as well.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have gained momentum in the past decade. MOOCs are becoming popular day by day across the world. One visible difference between traditional teaching-learning and MOOC is in terms of the central position of videos. Video-based content delivery has become the primary medium of instruction in most the MOOCs (Yousef, 2015), supported by e-text, activities, quizzes, and discussion forums. In India, the MOOCs being offered on the SWAYAM platform are mostly video-based. As per SWAYAM guidelines (2016 & 2017), for a four-credit MOOC in SWAYAM, a minimum of 20 hours of video content is essential. The researcher has offered two MOOC courses of 16 weeks duration on SWAYAM platforms namely, Learning and Teaching (with enrolment of around 15000) and, Pedagogy of Science (with enrolment of around 5000) in two cycles, i.e., July 2020 and January 2021. Total 111 videos have been developed for these two courses and when the viewership data was analysed, it was found that except for the course introductory videos, the viewership of other videos was varied and some videos have nearly 2530 views only in six months, this triggered the researcher to undertake a study to find out the usability of videos in MOOC. The researcher has decided to find out the usability and perceived effectiveness of videos in MOOCs being offered on the SWAYAM platform. The outcomes of the study are based on the perception of learners in IGNOU-SWAYAM MOOC around various identified factors like duration and number; content quality and relevance, quality of graphics and animations; subject matter experts; language; and positioning of video in the module. The paper also suggests ways to improve the video component of MOOC to improve its effectiveness and usability.

MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)即“大规模在线开放课程”，采用在线的方式来实现基于互联网的课程学习、互动、共享和测试，它被认为是对传统高等教育模式和产业的颠覆性创新，近年来受到了教育界的高度关注。深入分析和研究MOOC模式对高等教育带来的影响，既有利于高等教育的健康全面发展，也是MOOC本身可持续发展的需求。对MOOC课程对高等教育带来的改变、高等教育者应采取的态度和应对措施进行了分析，总结了在辅导学生选修MOOC课程和建设MOOC课程实践过程的一些体会，并对未来MOOC的发展进行了展望，旨在推动大规模在线开放课程实践的建设及运用。MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) realizes studying, interacting and sharing the courses all free based on the internet. It is considered as the subversive innovation to traditional higher education and industry, and therefore it has attracted more and more attention recently. Deep analysis of the impact of MOOC on traditional higher education is essential to both the healthy development of higher education and the sustainable development of MOOC itself. This research firstly analyzes the changes in higher education brought by MOOC, and subsequently gives suggestion on the proper response to these changes. It then concludes our practice in both tutoring some MOOC courses from Coursera and constructing ourselves’ MOOC course. Trends in future development of MOOC are discussed, in order to promote the construction and utilization of this new education mode.

The accurate exploration of the sentiment information in comments for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) courses plays an important role in improving its curricular quality and promoting MOOC platform’s sustainable development. At present, most of the sentiment analyses of comments for MOOC courses are actually studies in the extensive sense, while relatively less attention is paid to such intensive issues as the polysemous word and the familiar word with an upgraded significance, which results in a low accuracy rate of the sentiment analysis model that is used to identify the genuine sentiment tendency of course comments. For this reason, this paper proposed an ALBERT-BiLSTM model for sentiment analysis of comments for MOOC courses. Firstly, ALBERT was used to dynamically generate word vectors. Secondly, the contextual feature vectors were obtained through BiLSTM pre-sequence and post-sequence, and the attention mechanism that could calculate the weight of different words in a sentence was applied together. Finally, the BiLSTM output vectors were input into Softmax for the classification of sentiments and prediction of the sentimental tendency. The experiment was performed based on the genuine data set of comments for MOOC courses. It was proved in the result that the proposed model was higher in accuracy rate than the already existing models.

This chapter analyzes the instructional quality and learning design of different categories of online courses and their history, with a special focus on massive open online courses (MOOCs). Online courses have a long tradition that has gained public attention, broad interest, and huge numbers of participants thanks to the introduction of free MOOCs accessible online for all interested learners worldwide. In this chapter, we first define MOOCs, their characteristics, and history. Afterward, theoretical frameworks and practical instruments and tools based on scientific research are presented. From the beginning, the quality of MOOCs (and of online courses in general) has been debated. That led to discussions about the learning design and outcomes of MOOCs, which we introduce in the next section. Key research findings and practical validated instruments for designing and evaluating MOOCs (and online courses in general) are presented. Then following, the key benefits of MOOCs and the main arguments and scenarios for their usage are summarized. Based on our analysis of the research results, practices, and standards, a framework for categories and types of (massive open) online courses is proposed, called the typologies of online courses (TOC) framework. As part of the global community for open educational resources (OER) and in combination with the UNESCO recommendation on OER, MOOCs can play a significant role in achieving the SDG4 of the United Nations: inclusive and equitable quality education for all. This is true in particular during times of public lockdowns, such as during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

This chapter analyzes the instructional quality and learning design of different categories of online courses and their history, with a special focus on massive open online courses (MOOCs). Online courses have a long tradition that has gained public attention, broad interest, and huge numbers of participants thanks to the introduction of free MOOCs accessible online for all interested learners worldwide. In this chapter, we first define MOOCs, their characteristics, and history. Afterward, theoretical frameworks and practical instruments and tools based on scientific research are presented. From the beginning, the quality of MOOCs (and of online courses in general) has been debated. That led to discussions about the learning design and outcomes of MOOCs, which we introduce in the next section. Key research findings and practical validated instruments for designing and evaluating MOOCs (and online courses in general) are presented. Then following, the key benefits of MOOCs and the main arguments and scenarios for their usage are summarized. Based on our analysis of the research results, practices, and standards, a framework for categories and types of (massive open) online courses is proposed, called the typologies of online courses (TOC) framework. As part of the global community for open educational resources (OER) and in combination with the UNESCO recommendation on OER, MOOCs can play a significant role in achieving the SDG4 of the United Nations: inclusive and equitable quality education for all. This is true in particular during times of public lockdowns, such as during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.