Learning through engagement: MOOCs as an emergent form of provision

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a new form of educational provision occupying a space between formal online courses and informal learning. Adopting measures used with formal online courses to assess the outcomes of MOOCs is often not informative because the context is very different. The particular affordances of MOOCs shaping learning environments comprise both scale (in terms of numbers of students) and diversity (in terms of the types of students). As learning designers we focus on understanding the particular tools and pedagogical affordances of the MOOC platform to support learner engagement. Drawing on research into learner engagement conducted in the broader field of online learning, we consider how learner engagement in a MOOC might be designed for by looking at three pedagogical aspects: teacher presence, social learning and peer learning.

A Classification of Barriers that Influence Intention Achievement in MOOCs

“…An often-heard concern regarding MOOCs is their high dropout rate [1]. These dropout rates-generally used to assess MOOC-success-are misleading, as often success measurements from traditional education are used [2][3][4][5]. Kalz, Kreijns, Walhout, Castaño-Munoz, Espasa, and Tovar [6] introduced a theoretical framework that combines distal and proximal variables and which takes into account individual intentions and barriers.…”

Refining success and dropout in massive open online courses based on the intention–behavior gap

“…In contrast to traditional face-to-face education and also distance education -where students often have to meet certain admission requirements and primarily follow full educational programmes -a MOOC is a relatively short course (generally 5-12 weeks) which is accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time in disposal of an Internet connection. It is therefore recognized that it should not be compared to the traditional learning context with respect to completion and dropout (Huin et al, 2016;Walji, Deacon, Small, & Czerniewicz, 2016).…”

The Pedagogic Architecture of MOOC: A Research Project on Educational Courses in Spanish

“…Thus, we would be able to move towards the creation of more open, flexible, and emerging curricular models distancing ourselves from the reproduction of technical strategies commonly found in e-learning, rethinking the role of facilitators, promoting a social learning environment, supporting networks, and learning between peers (Walji et al, 2016).…”

“…Finally, there are some studies focused on discussing and combatting participant dropout rates. They propose strategies such as improving levels of knowledge and management of the diversity of participants in the courses (De Waard et al, 2011;Kop, 2011;Walji, Deacon, Small, & Czerniewicz, 2016), achieving maximum involvement of all participants (García, Tenorio, & Ramírez, 2015) or questioning the system of rewards and accreditation established in MOOCs (Sánchez & Escribano, 2014).…”