Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses have emerged as a popular mechanism for independent learners to acquire new knowledge and skills; however, the challenge of learning online without dedicated tutor support requires learners to self-motivate. This study explores the primary motivations reported by participants in two MOOCs: Fundamentals of Clinical Trials and Introduction to Data Science (n=970). Each MOOC drew a diverse cohort of participants ranging from professionals working in the field to students preparing to enter it. Across both MOOCs, a similar profile of primary motivations emerged, with respondents identifying the potential benefits to their current role, or future career, alongside more general responses reflecting casual interest in the topic or a simple desire to learn. Professionals were primarily motivated by current needs, describing how the course could fill gaps in their formal knowledge, broaden their skillset to increase their effectiveness at work, or enable them to innovate. Professionals also saw the benefit of MOOC study in preparing them for new roles and career progression. Students, meanwhile, used MOOC study to complement their other learning. It is clear that MOOC study represents a popular mechanism for professionals to address both current and future learning needs.

Exploring Student Readiness to MOOCs in Jordan: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

“…A MOOC is recognized as a collaborative learning environment, which requires students to possess socio-communication competencies to guarantee active participation. According to Milligan and Littlejohn (2017), one of the main motivations of MOOC students is forming social relationships with other learners. Therefore, Willis (2013) points out that improved socio-communication skills are fundamental for the success of collaborative learning in MOOC environments, in which the presence of learners' communities is recognized as an essential factor.…”

Relationship between learners’ motivation and course engagement in an astronomy massive open online course

“…In past few years, a significant body of literature on motivation in MOOCs has been published [36,37]. There have been studies that approach the motivation of the learners from various angles.…”

Research on MOOCs in Major Referred Journals

“…With regard to the learning process, two subcategories of research objects were identified: the determinants of learning, and interactions in the MOOCs. For instance, the research questions addressing the determinants of learning included how participants self-regulated their learning Kizilcec et al, 2017;Littlejohn et al, 2016;, people's motivations for participating or learning in a MOOC (Milligan & Littlejohn, 2017;Rieber, 2017;Shapiro et al, 2017;Stich & Reeves, 2017), and the learner behaviour in the course (de Lima & Zorrilla, 2017;Kahan, Soffer & Nachmias, 2017). Articles focusing on interactions in MOOCs examined the modes of discussion that characterised the participation of learners in forums (Gillani & Eynon, 2014;Zhang et al, 2016), the modes of communication offered to learners, namely asynchronous or synchronous (Li et al, 2014), the processes of interaction between users and organisers in the case of cMOOCs (Andersen & Ponti, 2014), or the modes of interaction and their role in the co-construction of new knowledge (Kellogg et al, 2014).…”