Factors for Development of Learning Content and Task for MOOCs in an Asian Context

Abstract

The rapid advancement of emergent learning technologies has led to the introduction of massive open online courses (MOOCs) which offer open-based online learning courses to a large number of students. In line with the advancement, the Malaysia Ministry of Education has recently initiated Malaysia MOOCs via collaboration with four public universities. This paper proposes factors that could be used in development of MOOC learning content, which are: (i) type of MOOC, (ii) type of video lectures, (iii) integration of cultural aspects in video lectures, (iv) communication style in video lectures; and (v) humor effect in video lectures. The paper also proposes factors in developing MOOC learning tasks, namely: (i) structure of learning tasks; (ii) dialog in learning tasks; (iii) learner autonomy in learning tasks; (iv) social settings of learning tasks; and (v) transactional distance of learning tasks. The factors are based on experiences during development of MOOC for ethnic relations and are aligned with learning concepts and strategies such as the transactional distance theory and the theory of the computer model of a sense of humor. Future directions on the development and research on MOOCs are also proposed.

Massive Open Online Courses: En Route to Communication Skills Acquisition

“…Learners indeed need immediate feedback from the tutor. This issue is also proven agreed by Nordin et al, (2016) in their study on the factors for development or learning content and task for MOOCs. They believed that adaptive feedback during learning is useful in assisting learners that need assistance in their learning.…”

“…A fundamental constructivist belief is that learners construct knowledge through their own prior knowledge and experiences. Nordin et al (2016) had their own perspective of related learning theories in developing and designing a MOOC course. They believed that designing a good MOOC course is based on the distance learning theory founded by Moore (1972) which best describes the concept of distance education where the MOOC acts as the platform for learners to learn with the existence of a tutor or a teacher virtually.…”

Are Malaysian University Students “MOOCs-Ready”?

“…The findings have proven that in a way, there are many factors needed to be considered in constructing a course in the Massive Open Online Courses. The findings are then later agreed by Nordin et al (2016) in their study on the factors for development of learning content and tasks for MOOCs in an Asian context. The same findings have been gathered and a few factors such as the type of learning materials provided, the social settings of learning tasks and also the communication style in video lectures are as equally important in affecting learners' engagement towards the particular course in MOOC.…”

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

“…Some scholars believe that even though MOOC is Open Source Resources also known as Open Online Resources (OER), it is still necessary to conduct a detailed study on its use (Weller, 2014) and future direction (Nordin et al, 2016) in higher learning institutions, especially in language learning. This is confirmed by Martín-Monje & Bárcena (2015) stating that the use of MOOCs for language learning is still lacking.…”