Massive open online courses: A review of usage and evaluation
Published | March 2015 |
Journal | International Journal of Learning Technology Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages 71 |
Publisher | InderScience Online |
Country | United Kingdom, Europe |
ABSTRACT
The massive open online course (MOOC) has seen a dramatic rise in prominence over the last five years and is heralded by some as disrupting existing pedagogy and practices within the education sector, while others are far more sceptical about the impact of MOOCs. Numerous courses are now being offered on a number of different platforms, with participant numbers for some individual courses reaching hundreds of thousands. Expectations are high for what these courses can achieve in terms of opening access, widening participation and cost saving. In this paper we conduct a literature review to examine what is known about MOOCs (both those following the original connectivist model and the more traditionally didactic variety) and what indications there are that they can live up to such expectations. We discuss concerns arising from the review and identify issues including lack of evidence, absence of pedagogy, lack of support and unrealistic expectations particularly on beginner learners.ISSN | 1741-8119 |
Refereed | Yes |
Rights | © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. |
DOI | 10.1504/IJLT.2015.069450 |
URL | https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJLT.2015.069450 |
Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
Viewed by 150 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.










Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
A study of user participation across different delivery modes of a massive open online course
Sinclair, Jane; Boyatt, Russell; Foss, Jonathan; Rocks, Claire
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are offered by many universities, with hundreds of thousands of people worldwide having registered for one or more of the many available courses. Despite the potential that has been ...
Match: sinclair, jane; boyatt, russell; rocks, claire; course evaluation; e-learning; electronic learning; massive open online courses; moocs; online learning; pedagogy; united kingdom; europe
What (use) is a MOOC?
Boyatt, Russell; Joy, Mike; Rocks, Claire; Sinclair, Jane; et al.
The phenomenon of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) has spread with amazing speed. Many universities in the USA and Europe are now joining up with MOOC providers to allow free access to courses. Participant numbers ...
Match: sinclair, jane; boyatt, russell; rocks, claire; joy, mike; beginner learners; literature review; pedagogy; united kingdom; europe
A tale of two modes: Initial reflections on an innovative MOOC
Sinclair, Jane; Boyatt, Russell; Foss, Jonathan; Rocks, Claire; et al.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are offered by many universities, with hundreds thousands of people worldwide having registered for one or more of the many available courses. Despite the potential that has been ...
Match: sinclair, jane; boyatt, russell; rocks, claire
Student engagement in massive open online courses
Sinclair, Jane; Kalvala, Sara
Completion rates in massive open online courses (MOOCs) are disturbingly low. Existing analysis has focused on patterns of resource access and prediction of drop-out using learning analytics. In contrast, the ...
Match: sinclair, jane; courses; e-learning; electronic learning; massive open online courses; moocs; online learning
An empirical study on users' adoption of MOOCs from the perspective of the institutional theory
Gao, Shang; Yang, Yuhao
MOOC, which stands for massive open online course, has attracted millions of users around the world and it has a promise to be a very important element of future education. However, there is a little research on users' ...
Match: e-learning; electronic learning; massive open online courses; moocs; online learning
Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies
Means, Barb; Toyama, Yukie; Murphy, Robert; Bakia, Marianne; U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development
A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified more than a thousand empirical studies of online learning. Analysts screened these studies to find those that (a) contrasted an ...
Match: evaluation; literature review
A practice-oriented review of learning objects
Sinclair, Jane; Joy, Mike; Yin-Kim Yau, Jane; Hagan, Stephen
Reusable learning objects support packaging of educational materials allowing their discovery and reuse. Open educational resources emphasize the need for open licensing and promote sharing and community involvement. ...
Match: sinclair, jane; joy, mike
MOOC quality evaluation system: Tomsk State University experience
Dyomin, Victor; Mozhaeva, Galina; Babanskaya, Olesya; Zakharova, Ulyana; et al.
E-learning development comes with an increased attention to its quality that is managed via the control over not only the learners' knowledge but over the learning process, its organization and applied tools. This paper ...
Match: evaluation; massive open online courses; moocs; europe
Teaching Massive, Open, Online, Courses (MOOCs): Tales from the front line
Lowenthal, Patrick; Snelson, Chareen; Perkins, Ross
Very little research has been conducted about what it is like to teach a MOOC. Given this, a mixed methods study, involving a survey of 186 MOOC instructors and 15 follow-up interviews, was conducted to explore the ...
Match: courses; massive open online courses; moocs; online learning
Can massive open online courses fill African evaluation capacity gaps?
Mapitsa, Caitlin B.; Khumalo, Linda; Engel, Hermine; Wooldridge, Dominique
Background: Theory of Change for Development is a free online course developed at an African institution to strengthen evaluation capacity in the region. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provide a platform for ...
Match: evaluation; courses; online learning