Design Of Massive Open Online Courses Research Articles

Older adults’ learning motivations in massive open online courses

ABSTRACTWith the popularization of massive open online courses (MOOCs) in the e-learning landscape, more and more older adults are participating in MOOC learning activities. Understanding older adults’ learning motivations in MOOCs will help MOOC developers design suitable learning systems and appropriate course content for older learners. Using a content analysis method, this study identifies six types of learning motivations of older adults in MOOCs: solving problems, acquiring knowledge, improving cognition, seeking fun, benefiting others, and social contact, among which improving cognition is unique to older adults. Based on the above classification, we found that the learning motivations among older adults vary with age and gender. The findings enrich the theories of education for older adults and of learning motivation, and can be used to improve the design of MOOCs for older adults.

Instructors’ Experience of Designing MOOCs in Higher Education: Considerations and Challenges

As massive open online courses (MOOCs) increase, the large scale and heterogeneity of MOOC participants bring myriad significant design challenges. This mixed methods study explores 143 MOOC instructors’ considerations and challenges in designing MOOCs; 12 of whom were interviewed and had their courses analyzed. The survey, interview, and course review data revealed a variety of considerations and challenges in MOOC design in terms of pedagogy, resources, and logistics. Pedagogical considerations included learning objectives, assessment methods, course length, course content, flexibility, and collaborative learning support. Resource considerations included the affordance of MOOC platforms, support from the host institution and the platform, and the available intellectual and hardware resources. Logistical considerations included the amount of time instructors spent designing the MOOC. The obstacles included pedagogical challenges (engaging students, increasing student interaction, and limited assessment methods), resource challenge (i.e., limitations associated with the affordances of the platform), and logistical challenge (time limitations for designing and developing MOOCs). To address these challenges, the instructors often relied on reviewing other MOOCs. They also sought help from colleagues, their universities, and supporters of the platforms.

Characterizing Super-Posters in a MOOC for Teachers’ Professional Development

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) attract thousands of participants who each exercise autonomy by engaging with resources and with other participants to whatever degree they wish. When analyzing participants’ patterns of engagement in MOOCs it is possible to notice that certain participants exhibit high levels of participation, actively engaging with others in forums. This study focuses on characterizing these highly active participants, and understanding their contributions back to the network in a MOOC designed for teachers’ professional development. Connectivism is used as theoretical lens to describe super-posters’ engagement in forums. Data from participants’ demographics, click-data, and forum posts are used to identify these highly active users. Qualitative content analysis is used to categorize the content of their posts, and social network analysis is used to represent their patterns of engagement. Results show that super-posters are generators of engagement, repurposing the content learned from the MOOC and feeding-forward new resources to the network. Super-posters can be seen as representatives of participation inequality in forums. They position themselves as the most prestigious and most influential nodes in the networks created by participants as they engage in forums. In some networks super-posters served as bridges, connecting people from different discussion threads and helping information to flow through the network. This study provides to MOOC designers and MOOC instructors an affordable method to identify and classify super-posters in any MOOC. Findings of this study could be used by MOOC designers and MOOC instructors to develop pedagogical interventions to give these participants a special role in the next MOOC cohort, which may foster engagement in MOOC forums and nurture the cyclical process of learning described in Connectivism. Regarding implications for research, this study attends the need for qualitative methods when analyzing participants’ engagement in MOOC forums and contributes to our knowledge of participation inequality. It also extends the literature of super-posters by showing their characterization in a MOOC focused on teachers’ professional development.

MOOCS for teacher professional development: exploring teachers’ perceptions and achievements

PurposeThis paper aims to report on a study concerning a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), designed to support Greek-language teachers in secondary-education schools in implementing collaborative writing activities with Google Docs (GDs) in their classrooms. Data recorded from a post-survey were used to investigate teachers’ views and perceptions about MOOC design features, their personal achievements and the overall outcomes for their professional work and development.Design/methodology/approachThe design framework of the particular teacher professional development MOOC was determined by the connectivist principles and addressed three main dimensions of teachers’ active participation: a) individual engagement; b) peer interaction and mutual support; and c) collaborative creation of educational scenarios and artefacts. The analysis used a mixed method that combines data from teachers’ active engagement through the MOOC platform records and quantitative and qualitative data from their responses to a post-survey questionnaire.FindingsThe analysis of the research data provided supportive evidence that the design framework was effective towards promoting teachers’ active engagement, peer interaction and support and development of learning design abilities to integrate collaborative writing with GDs in their classrooms. The findings showed that the majority of participants conceptualized this MOOC as an efficient environment to enhance their pedagogical knowledge and classroom practices and to support continuous professional development.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study may be limited by the specific sample and the context of implementation. Future research is expected to critically analyse existing results in combination with qualitative data from detailed interviews of participants in this teacher professional development MOOC.Practical implicationsThe results provided supportive evidence that successful MOOCs for teacher professional development are determined by four key design features: a) connecting course content and teacher learning practices to the educational reality of the classroom; b) defining concrete learning objectives of the course; c) promoting teachers’ collaborative learning; and d) creating a learning community among peers.Originality/valueThis paper presents a systematic analysis of teachers’ engagement in a teacher professional development MOOC, designed to support collaborative and self-directed learning. The results are expected to be significant and valuable for wider educational contexts, as MOOCs for teacher professional development is a new, ambitious topic for both research and educational policies.

A Systematic Literature Review on Massive Open Online Course for Language Learning

Massive open online course (MOOC) is an online learning tool, especially for distance learning. It has attracted a great deal of attention by higher education institution around the globe. It also gave rise to academic discussion on MOOC impact, design and research. However, researches on MOOC’s impact on language learning are still lacking. Therefore, this study aims to assess the research trend in MOOC for language learning around the globe by using the Systematic Literature Review approach from three databases within periods 2013 until 2018. Ten full assessed articles have been selected from ScienceDirect, ERIC and Research gate. The major findings show that the English language has dominated in language learning using MOOC. It is also revealed that MOOC has the potential to enhance language learning among students in other languages.

Can iMOOCs close the Opportunity Gaps?: the contribution of social inclusive pedagogical design.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are open courses made available online at no cost to the user and designed to scale up, allowing for a large number of participants. As such, they are a disruptive new development which has the potential to widen access to higher education since they contribute to social inclusion, the dissemination of knowledge and pedagogical innovation. However, assuring quality learning opportunities to all cannot be simply reduced to allowing free access to higher education. On the contrary, it implies assuring equitable opportunities for every participant to succeed in their learning experience. This goal depends on the quality of the learning design. To be successful, a massive open online learning experience has to empower learners and to facilitate a networked learning environment. In fact, MOOCs are designed to serve a high heterogeneity of profiles, with many differences regarding learning needs and preferences, prior knowledge, contexts of participation and diversity of online platforms. Personalization can play a key role in this process. In this article, the authors describe the iMOOC pedagogical model and its later derivative, the sMOOC model, and explain how they contributed to the introduction of the principles of diversity and equity to MOOC design, allowing for a clear differentiation of learning paths and also of virtual environments, while empowering participants to succeed in their learning experiences. Using a design-based research approach, a comparative analysis of two course iterations each representing each model is also presented and discussed.

Cyberincivility in the Massive Open Online Course Learning Environment: Data-Mining Study.

BackgroundCyberincivility is a pervasive issue that demands upfront thinking and can negatively impact one’s personal, professional, social, and educational well-being. Although massive open online courses (MOOCs) environments could be vulnerable to undesirable acts of incivility among students, no study has explored the phenomena of cyberincivility in this learning environment, particularly in a health-related course in which mostly current or eventual health professions students enroll.ObjectiveThis study aimed to analyze the characteristics of text entries posted by students enrolled in a medicine and health care MOOC. The objectives were to (1) examine the prevalence of posts deemed disrespectful, insensitive or disruptive, and inconducive to learning; (2) describe the patterns and types of uncivil posts; and (3) highlight aspects that could be useful for MOOC designers and educators to build a culture of cybercivility in the MOOC environment.MethodsWe obtained data from postings in the discussion forums from the MOOC Medical Neuroscience created by a large private university in the southeast region of the United States. After cleaning the dataset, 8705 posts were analyzed, which contained (1) 667 questions that received no responses; (2) 756 questions that received at least one answer; (3) 6921 responses that applied to 756 posts; and (4) 361 responses where the initiating post was unknown. An iterative process of coding, discussion, and revision was conducted to develop a series of a priori codes. Data management and analysis were performed with NVivo 12.ResultsOverall, 19 a priori codes were retained from 25 initially developed, and 3 themes emerged from the data—Annoyance, Disruption, and Aggression. Of 8705 posts included in the analysis, 7333 (84.24%) were considered as the absence of uncivil posts and 1043 (11.98%) as the presence of uncivil posts, while 329 (3.78%) were uncodable. Of 1043 uncivil posts analyzed, 466 were coded to >1 a priori codes, which resulted in 1509 instances. Of those 1509 instances, 826 (54.74%) fell into “annoyance”, 648 (42.94%) into “disruption”, and 35 (2.32%) into “aggression”. Of 466 posts that related to >1 a priori codes, 380 were attributed to 2 or 3 themes. Of those 380 posts, 352 (92.6%) overlapped both “annoyance” and “disruption,” 13 (3.4%) overlapped both “disruption” and “aggression,” and 9 (2.4%) overlapped “annoyance” and “aggression,” while 6 (1.6%) intersected all 3 themes.ConclusionsThis study reports on the phenomena of cyberincivility in health-related MOOCs toward the education of future health care professionals. Despite the general view that discussion forums are a staple of the MOOC delivery system, students cite discussion forums as a source of frustration for their potential to contain uncivil posts. Therefore, MOOC developers and instructors should consider ways to maintain a civil discourse within discussion forums.

MOOC Design of the Specialty Course of Precision Machinery and Instruments

By introducing the Massive Open Online Course(MOOC) in the specialty course, a blended teaching pattern of flipped classroom and classroom teaching can be built up. Through the pre-class online preparation, the class explanations, and the homework, the problems that were originally unresolved in the class hours can be completely absorbed. The roles of teachers and students can be transformed, so that a new concept of “student-centered” can be established, which is of great significance for improving the teaching effect of the specialty course. This paper focuses on the teaching reform requirements of MOOC-based blended teaching pattern of Precision Machinery and Instruments. The methods and ideas of the establishment of MOOC teaching resource library for the course was analyzed and discussed. Based on the fragmented teaching contents, the online teaching database, including lecture notes, multimedia courseware, teaching videos, was established. At the same time, the pre-study questions, after-school assignments, and extended questions were designed respectively. The teaching resource library lays the foundation for the following reform of the blended teaching pattern of flipped classroom and traditional classroom teaching.

How do Virtual Teams Collaborate in Online Learning Tasks in a MOOC?

Modern learning theories stress the importance of student-centered and self-directed learning. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) supports this by focusing on small group learning centered around authentic problems. PBL, however, usually relies heavily on face-to-face team collaboration and tutor guidance. Yet, when applied in online/blended environments, such elements may not be feasible or even desirable. This study explores how virtual teams collaborate in online learning tasks in the context of a nine-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) where international, virtual teams worked on PBL-like tasks. Twenty-one self-formed teams were observed. An inductive thematic analysis resulted in five themes: 1) team formation and team composition, 2) team process (organization and leadership), 3) approach to task work (task division and interaction), 4) use of tools, and 5) external factors (MOOC design and interaction with others). Overall findings revealed that online, virtual teams can collaborate on learning tasks without extensive guidance, but this requires additional communication and technological skills and support. Explicit discussion about group organization and task work, a positive atmosphere, and acceptance of unequal contributions seem to be positive factors. Additional support is required to prepare participants for virtual team work, develop digital literacy, and stimulate more elaborate brainstorming and discussion.

Pushing Toward a More Personalized MOOC: Exploring Instructor Selected Activities, Resources, and Technologies for MOOC Design and Implementation

This study explores the activities, tools, and resources that instructors of massive open online courses (MOOCs) use to improve the personalization of their MOOCs. Following email interviews with 25 MOOC and open education leaders regarding MOOC personalization, a questionnaire was developed. This questionnaire was then completed by 152 MOOC instructors from around the world. While more than 8 in 10 respondents claimed heavy involvement in designing their MOOCs, only one-third placed extensive effort on meeting unique learner needs during course design, and even fewer respondents were concerned with personalization during course delivery. An array of instructional practices, technology tools, and content resources were leveraged by instructors to personalize MOOC-based learning environments. Aligning with previous research, the chief resources and tools employed in their MOOCs were discussion forums, video lectures, supplemental readings, and practice quizzes. In addition, self-monitoring and peer-based methods of learner feedback were more common than instructor monitoring and feedback. Some respondents mentioned the use of flexible deadlines, proposed alternatives to course assignments, and introduced multimedia elements, mobile applications, and guest speakers among the ways in which they attempted to personalize their massive courses. A majority of the respondents reported modest or high interest in learning new techniques to personalize their next MOOC offering.

How a MOOC can effectively facilitate student transitions to an online distance postgraduate programme

A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) was developed to help promote awareness of, and support student transitions into, a fully online distance, credit-bearing postgraduate certificate (PGCert). A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was undertaken with participants on the PGCert to investigate learner experiences of both the MOOC and PGCert, and to establish the extent to which the MOOC supported learners’ transitions into the PGCert in terms of their (1) foundation knowledge, (2) study skills, (3) digital literacies, (4) readiness for self-directed learning, and to determine whether additional efforts could have been directed to more effectively support student transitions. Findings revealed that the MOOC informed participants’ decision to undertake the fully online PGCert, and that this was due to the effective learning design and a strong teacher presence throughout. The participants already possessed some background knowledge and a number of essential learning skills (though not uniformly), questioning assumptions around MOOCs as an aid to widening participation in higher education; however, the MOOC helped to enhance and unify these. Not surprisingly, there were some challenges encountered on entering online postgraduate study that the MOOC design could not anticipate or solve; therefore, we recommend that online learners are appropriately supported throughout their studies. This work has implications in terms of how MOOCs may help facilitate student transitions into other fully online, credit-bearing programmes of study. Published: 20 September 2018 Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2018, 26 : 2055 - http://dx.doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v26.2055

Real-world evidence for postgraduate students and professionals in healthcare: protocol for the design of a blended massive open online course

IntroductionThere is an increased need for improving data science skills of healthcare professionals. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) provide the opportunity to train professionals in a sustainable and cost-effective way....

Factors Affecting MOOC Usage by Students in Selected Ghanaian Universities

There has been widespread criticism about the rates of participation of students enrolled on MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), more importantly, the percentage of students who actively consume course materials from beginning to the end. The current study sought to investigate this trend by examining the factors that influence MOOC adoption and use by students in selected Ghanaian universities. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was extended to develop a research model. A survey was conducted with 270 questionnaires administered to students who had been assigned MOOCs; 204 questionnaires were retrieved for analysis. Findings of the study show that MOOC usage intention is influenced by computer self-efficacy, performance expectancy, and system quality. Results also showed that MOOC usage is influenced by facilitating conditions, instructional quality, and MOOC usage intention. Social influence and effort expectancy were found not to have a significant influence on MOOC usage intention. The authors conclude that universities must have structures and resources in place to promote the use of MOOCs by students. Computer skills training should also be part of the educational curriculum at all levels. MOOC designers must ensure that the MOOCs have good instructional quality by using the right pedagogical approaches and also ensure that the sites and learning materials are of good quality.

Perceived attitudinal learning in a self-paced versus fixed-schedule MOOC

ABSTRACTThis study (N = 427) examined perceived attitudinal learning gains (i.e., cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning) related to the course topic by comparing a self-paced version of a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) with a fixed-scheduled version. Independent samples t-tests revealed that those in a self-paced classroom were more likely to perceive higher levels of attitudinal learning gains and satisfaction than those in a fixed-scheduled MOOC. Those enrolling in the self-paced course also identified significantly more diverse reasons for enrolling. Learners in both courses identified course videos as the most impactful instructional component. Implications for the design of self-paced MOOCs are discussed.

A tale of two MOOCs: How student motivation and participation predict learning outcomes in different MOOCs

Recent scholarly discussions about massive open online courses (MOOCs) highlight pedagogical and practical issues that separate MOOCs from other learning settings, especially how theories of learning translate to MOOC students’ motivation, participation, and performance. What is missing from these discussions is the purpose of the MOOC. We report a comparative study of two MOOCs that differ in educational purpose, but are similar in design. Our sample consisted of 983 students in a professional development MOOC, and 648 students in a MOOC focused on general interest. We first report differences between the two MOOCs, in terms of student demographics, achievement motivation, and participation. For each MOOC, we ran a two-stage regression analysis to determine the extent to which motivation variables (stage 1) and participation variables (stage 2) predicted performance. Patterns in demographic background and motivation differed in ways that were consistent with the MOOCs' purposes. Motivation and participation predicted performance, but this relationship differed between the two MOOCs and reflected the patterns of participation. Professional development motivation contributed to final grade in the professional development MOOC, but not the general interest MOOC. The findings have implications for how MOOC designers think about their target audience, and for students who aim for high final grades.

Upscaling the number of learners, fragmenting the role of teachers: How do massive open online courses (MOOCs) form new conditions for learning design?

The proliferation and expansion of massive open online courses (MOOCs) prompts a need to revisit classical pedagogical questions. In what ways will MOOCs facilitate and promote new e-learning pedagogies? Is current learning design adequate for the “massiveness” and “openness” of MOOCs? This article discusses the ways in which MOOCs create new conditions for designing learning processes. The authors present various theoretical approaches to learning design and discuss a combination of theoretical perspectives. They discern a fragmentation of the teacher role; where the teacher was once the main person responsible for planning, practice and reflection, those activities may now be performed by different actors with different areas of responsibility. The theoretical discussion is complemented by a review of recent studies of new practices and design formats aiming to overcome the upscaling issues of MOOCs. The authors present a multifaceted picture of MOOC methodologies, including a typology of hybrid approaches to MOOC design. Through the example of MOOC implementation in India, they address the integration of MOOCs into formal higher education systems. They conclude their article with the contention that, through upscaling, important facets of students’ intellectual development and critical thinking might be left to the students themselves. This may cause problems. Adequate scaffolding from a teacher, such as adapting activities to the specific situation, might be needed to develop the skills required to be a self-directed learner. Furthermore, upscaling seems to promote a separation of the formerly unified teacher functions of planning, teaching and assessing, which necessitates increased collaboration among the many new actors in the field of pedagogy.

The Flipped MOOC: Using Gamification and Learning Analytics in MOOC Design—A Conceptual Approach

Recently, research has highlighted the potential of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for education, as well as their drawbacks, which are well known. Several studies state that the main limitations of the MOOCs are low completion and high dropout rates of participants. However, MOOCs suffer also from the lack of participant engagement, personalization, and despite the fact that several formats and types of MOOCs are reported in the literature, the majority of them contain a considerable amount of content that is mainly presented in a video format. This is in contrast to the results reported in other educational settings, where engagement and active participation are identified as success factors. We present the results of a study that involved educational experts and learning scientists giving new and interesting insights towards the conceptualization of a new design approach, the flipped MOOC, applying the flipped classroom approach to the MOOCs’ design and making use of gamification and learning analytics. We found important indications, applicable to the concept of a flipped MOOC, which entails turning MOOCs from mainly content-oriented delivery machines into personalized, interactive, and engaging learning environments. Our findings support the idea that MOOCs can be enriched by the orchestration of a flipped classroom approach in combination with the support of gamification and learning analytics.

Perceptions of authority in a massive open online course: An intercultural study

Spurred on by rapid advances of technology, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have proliferated over the past decade. They pride themselves on making (higher) education available to more people at reduced (or no) cost compared to traditional university schemes and on being inclusive in terms of admitting vast numbers of students from all over the world. However, MOOCs tend to be tacitly based on the course designers’ lifeworlds, which results in the sidelining of participants whose lifeworlds are different. The authors of this article highlight culture as an important but often overlooked aspect in the research on, and the design and running of MOOCs. They begin with a review of the role of culture in MOOCs research and find that it has been somewhat ignored. Next, they present a methodological framework – the culture contrast method – with which to approach the decisive role culture plays in MOOCs. Third, coming from differing cultural backgrounds, they apply the culture contrast method in a case study, contrasting experiences, interpretations and perceptions of a particular MOOC. Their varying perceptions of how, when and why they experienced a presence of authority emerge as a consistent theme in their data. Through the analysis of their data, they distinguish between the MOOC as an assemblage, consisting of the online interface, the design and hardware they inhabit as course participants, and their respective lifeworlds as their local and situated different cultures. They argue that during the run of the course, lifeworld and assemblage collide and enact a cultural authority. This authority sets the benchmark for what is deemed proper practice within a particular MOOC and it gives preferential treatment to some participants rather than others, thus actually undermining the professed inclusiveness of the MOOC format.

Design, implementation and evaluation of MOOCs and DBL‐based cross‐registration

AbstractTo overcome geographical restrictions of the cross‐registration, this study uses MOOCs and DBL as the learning approach to presents an implementation process of cross‐registration in the course of Machinery Design. Cross‐registration contains three steps: Pre‐Registration, Learning Process, and Credit Certification. According to the characteristics of cross‐registration, Learning process was realized through the mode which consists of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) learning, traditional classroom and Design Based Learning (DBL). Project progression of DBL was elaborated, demonstrated and had been applied in cross‐registration. This work aims at analyzing and reporting whether this MOOCs and DBL‐based cross‐registration has effects on a case study in Machinery Design Course. Students’ performance and learning behaviors are analyzed in this article. The results indicate that the MOOCs‐based cross‐registration is practicable, Learning Process has positive influence on students' performance. Recommendations for future work and implications for practice will also be discussed.

MOOC DEVELOPMENT ON MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS COURSE

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is one of an e-learning platform to cater Education 4.0 and Industry 4.0 today. It is identified that MOOC on Multimedia Systems and Applications Course (MSAC) yet to be developed on Open Learning platform. Thus, this research presents a design of MSAC MOOC to provide students with essential knowledge on multimedia systems and applications based on interactive teaching and learning. Students can apply the acquired knowledge in designing multimedia systems and applications such as text, graphics images, audio, video, animation which can be presented online on MOOC. The designed MOOC is different to attracts everybody in the world to participate online no matters which academic background they have. The MOOC course started with a promo video, introductory video, course synopsis, course learning outcome, durations and course plan for 14 weeks. It is also designed with badges and certificates to excellent students who finish the course and able to gain understanding with interactive and active students on the MOOC. Theoretically, eleven topics are covered throughout the MOOC that consists of learning outcome for each topic. Content in text, images, animation and video is designed in subtopic. Practically three activities in each topic are designed with assessment on quizzes and interactive online questions. Educational hyperlink is supported on the MOOC for interactive knowledge based module, video on YouTube and Multimedia channel forum related to the course. Online discussion with students and submitted online short reports is applied to show their understanding of Intellectual Property Rights concept in designing multimedia system and applications. The designed MOOC then is analyzed and result based on student’s participations, origins, assessment and feedback from the students is presented. Research is significant in identifying students’ completion of the course understanding applied tools. The MOOC course is significant for today’s teaching and learning strategy that need to be ready align with new technologies and development.