Exploring MOOC from education and Information Systems perspectives: a short literature review

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have gained significance as a new paradigm in education. MOOCs are open to any interested person and provide education products for a scalable number of learners who have access to the Internet. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in MOOCs including their types, theories and challenges. Although this is an important and challenging field for Information Systems researchers, a rich and structural literature review has not yet been conducted in this area. The purpose of this article is to present a short review of recent research into MOOCs. Thirty-two papers were selected for review through four search engines with a search of key terms related to MOOCs. On the basis of this review, a holistic definition on MOOCs is presented and an overview of the relevant theories and issues is provided.

MOOC Success Factors: Proposal of an Analysis Framework

“…cMOOCs are associated with connectivism, as learners are asked to contribute to the course's development by discussing topics and bringing in various forms of relevant content (Admiraal, Huisman, & Pilli, 2015;Kennedy, 2014;Saadatdoost et al, 2015;St Clair et al, 2015) and frequently use distributed online platforms (Kennedy, 2014). These courses have a social approach to education (Liyanagunawardena, Adams, & Williams, 2013) and require innovative ways of teaching (Saadatdoost et al, 2015). xMOOCs are highly structured and instructor guided, usually including a set of video lectures, recommended readings, and different forms of assignments and assessments in a centralized platform (Kennedy, 2014).…”

“…Other authors, however, are questioning if the high dropout ratio should be considered an issue in this context (Ho et al, 2015;Saadatdoost et al, 2015) and, hence, other dimensions need to be taken into consideration.…”

“…• provide high quality, low cost and high scale education (Saadatdoost, Sim, Jafarkarimi, & Mei Hee, 2015;St Clair, Winer, Finkelstein, Fuentes-Steeves, & Wald, 2015); • increase the access to higher-education learning (St Clair et al, 2015;Walker & Loch, 2014); • promote autonomous, independent and flexible learning (Kady & Vadeboncoeur, 2013;Saadatdoost et al, 2015); • allow learners to focus on learning rather than on getting a qualification (Walker & Loch, 2014); and • promote the provider -institution, professor or study programme (Saadatdoost et al, 2015;St Clair et al, 2015;Walker & Loch, 2014).…”

What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis

“…For instance, Ossiannilsson, Altinay, and Altinay (2016) reviewed MOOC research with the aim of identifying factors that affect learner experience and quality issues in MOOCs. Similarly, Saadatdoost, Sim, Jafarkarimi, and Mei Hee (2015) examined MOOC studies from the perspective of education and information systems, and Calonge and Shah (2016) analysed MOOC literature in terms of graduate skills gaps and employability.…”

Nonnative English-Speaking Students’ Lived Learning Experiences With MOOCs in a Regular College Classroom

“…The massive open online course (MOOC) has developed rapidly, drawing global attention (Saadatdoost, Sim, Jafarkarimi, & Hee, 2015;Shah, 2015a). According to Shah (2015a) Among the growing numbers of MOOC students are nonnative English-speaking learners.…”