Number Of Massive Open Online Courses Research Articles

Decrypting the Learners’ Retention Factors in Massive Open Online Courses

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have recently become attractive at most universities, and the number of MOOCs has risen significantly, particularly in India. Despite their popularity, previous research has revealed a low course completion rate and a scarcity of research on the factors that influences learners’ retention in MOOCs. Therefore, it is a good idea to investigate previous research to understand the factors behind the learners’ retention so that an ideal learning model can be created. This study used Structural Equation Modelling to find out the unexplored learner retention factors in MOOCs and create a model, which may extend the satisfaction. MOOC data sets were collected from different Indian universities in Uttarakhand state. This study has explored the majority of influencing factors correlated with learners’ satisfaction. The findings show that MOOC usage intention is influenced by a willingness to credit mobility, the allure of the latest trendy course, content localisation and perceived effectiveness.

MOOCS IN ITALY: AN OPEN AND FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPE

If we look at the short but widely analyzed history of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), it is evident that these courses, which were created and are still often acclaimed as ‘open’, have been progressively losing most of their openness. A substantial – and probably increasing – number of MOOCs are in fact not based on Open Educational Resources. Moreover, they are not continuously available for access. Recognizing that many openness declinations exist in the MOOC panorama, this article seeks to expand global knowledge about such variances by focusing on the characteristics of MOOCs in Italy. It claims that even if the Italian MOOC ecosystem has some similarities with those of other European countries, it is distinctive for two reasons: first, MOOCs produced by Italian universities seem to be more open than those in comparable countries in terms of both content licenses and accessibility; second, the Italian MOOC ecosystem seems to suffer from a rather high degree of fragmentation. By combining a literature review with a set of interviews with key stakeholders in the Italian MOOC panorama, the article provides insights on the factors and mechanisms that have generated such a particular configuration of the Italian MOOC landscape.

Factors Determination MOOCs Continuance Intention: A Proposed Conceptual Framework

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) recently start to gain its popularity at most universities and the number of MOOC has increased. Despite its popularity, previous study shown that low course completion rate and limited amount of studies in examining antecedents which influence students’ continuation intention in using MOOCs. Thus, this study aims to propose a conceptual framework to figure out the factors determinant of MOOCs continuance intention among students in Malaysian higher education. By reviewing the related studies, factors namely perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude, motivation and continuance intention were identified.

Role of MOOCs in Pakistani English Teachers’ Professional Development

The paper takes up one of the least researched areas in Pakistan i.e. the role of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for professional development in general and the capacity building of English teachers in particular. Although MOOCs are getting popular in Pakistan, the majority is still unaware of the concept especially those who teach in traditional face-to-face mode. As many second language University teachers have not attended any MOOCs, convenience sampling was used for data collection. Only 32 respondents completed the questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire on Cronbach alpha was 0.83. The results show that the number of Pakistani English teachers responding to the survey who attended MOOCs either partially or completely, was very low. Therefore, of course, the number of MOOCs attended by each was also very low. However, whoever attended and whichever MOOCs were attended, the teachers found them quite beneficial for their overall professional development, be it language improvement or teaching skill set development. The researcher recommends the use of MOOCs in classrooms which is only possible if more English Language Teaching MOOCs are available and teachers attend a variety of MOOCs. The researcher also highlights the need to develop Pakistani MOOCs with a national flavour.

Peer assessment in MOOCs: The relationship between peer reviewers’ ability and authors’ essay performance

AbstractIn a relatively short period of time, massive open online courses (MOOCs) have become a considerable topic of research and debate, and the number of available MOOCs is rapidly growing. Along with issues of formal recognition and accreditation, this growth in the number of MOOCs being developed increases the relevance of assessment quality. Within the context of a typical xMOOC, the current study focuses on peer assessment of essay assignments. In the literature, two contradicting theoretical arguments can be found: that learners should be matched with same‐ability peers (homogeneously) versus that students should be matched with different‐ability peers (heterogeneously). Considering these arguments, the relationship between peer reviewers’ ability and authors’ essay performance is explored. Results indicate that peer reviewers’ ability is positively related to authors’ essay performance. Moreover, this relationship is only established for intermediate and high ability authors; essay performance of lower ability authors appeared not to be related to the ability of their reviewing peers. Results are discussed in relation to the matching of learners and instructional design of peer assessment in MOOCs.

Learning in a small, task–oriented, connectivist MOOC: Pedagogical issues and implications for higher education

<p>Despite the increase in massive open online courses (MOOCs), evidence about the pedagogy of learning in MOOCs remains limited. This paper reports on an investigation into the pedagogy in one MOOC - Oxford Brookes University’s ‘First Steps in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education’ MOOC (FSLT12).</p><p>FSLT12 was an open and free professional development opportunity for people moving into HE teaching. It was a small course (200 participants registered from 24 countries) which was focused on introducing HE teaching skills, and, uniquely, to deliberately integrate open academic practice as a vital part of professional development for HE teachers. A qualitative, case-study approach was used in the research, based on surveys, interviews, and social media, to provide evidence about how people learned in this course and consider wider implications for teaching and learning in higher education.</p><p>The evidence shows that participants who completed the course were able to learn autonomously and navigate the distributed platforms and environments. The most challenging issues were acceptance of open academic practice and difficulty in establishing an academic identity in an unpredictable virtual environment. An interesting and significant feature of the course was the support for learners from a number of MOOC ‘veterans’ who served as role models and guides for less experienced MOOC learners.</p><p>The research shows that small task-oriented MOOCs can effectively support professional development of open academic practice.</p>