Massive open online courses: A review of usage and evaluation
Sinclair, Jane · Boyatt, Russell · Rocks, Claire · Joy, Mike

PublishedMarch 2015
JournalInternational Journal of Learning Technology
Volume 10, Issue 1, Pages 71
PublisherInderScience Online
CountryUnited 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.

Keywords absence of pedagogy · beginner learners · course evaluation · e-learning · electronic learning · lack of evidence · lack of support · literature review · massive open online courses · MOOCs · online learning · pedagogy · unrealistic expectations

ISSN1741-8119
RefereedYes
Rights© 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
DOI10.1504/IJLT.2015.069450
URLhttps://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJLT.2015.069450
Export optionsBibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar


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