MOOC teaching assistants’ global-engaged learning in the US and China
Published | 2 December 2024 |
Journal | Online Learning Volume 28, Issue 4, Pages 128-152 |
Country | United States, North America |
ABSTRACT
How can we create a “global-at-home” learning experience for university students to engage them in serving global professional communities online? This study applied global engagement surveys alongside interviews and focus groups in online contexts to examine engaged learning outcomes of US and Chinese university students who served as MOOC teaching assistants to interact with the course participants from over 50 countries. Findings from pre and post surveys showed that TAs significantly increased their scores on efficacy, political voice, conscious consumption and critical reflection. Further, qualitative analysis showed that TAs worked to adapt their language in their communication with participants, a key aspect of intercultural competence, and that they gained self-efficacy in online communication and in their ability to make a difference. TAs described affordances of online global-engaged learning, including accessibility, time for reflection, lack of implicit bias, creating long-term connections, and reaching large audiences. They also reflected on challenges, including lack of emotional connection, lack of response from participants, language barriers, and perceived lack of expertise. The study offers recommendations for designing online learning and community engagement experiences that can provide opportunities for university students to gain intercultural competence, efficacy, and reflection.Keywords | global engagement · online learning · MOOCs · intercultural competence · civic engagement · cultural differences |
Language | English |
ISSN | 2472-5730 |
Refereed | Yes |
Rights | CC BY |
DOI | 10.24059/olj.v28i4.4567 |
URL | https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/4567 |
Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
AVAILABLE FILES
Viewed by 82 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
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: online learning; moocs; united states; north america
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: online learning; moocs; united states; north america
Why do institutions offer MOOCs?
Hollands, Fiona; Tirthali, Devayani
By reviewing the literature and interviewing 83 individuals knowledgeable about massive open online courses (MOOCs), we investigate the goals of institutions of higher education that are currently developing and ...
Match: online learning; moocs
Scaling a model of teacher professional learning – Harnessing MOOCS to recreate deep learning Conversations
Butler, Deirdre; Leahy, Margaret; Hallissy, Michael; Brown, Mark; et al.
This paper describes the most recent phase of an innovative model of teacher professional learning that has evolved over a decade (2006 to 2016). Building on the experiences of implementing this face-to-face model, the ...
Match: online learning; moocs
An Analysis of Course Characteristics, Learner Characteristics, and Certification Rates in MITx MOOCs
Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Cagiltay, Kursat; Celik, Berkan
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), capable of providing free (or low cost) courses for millions of learners anytime and anywhere, have gained the attention of researchers, educational institutions, and learners ...
Match: online learning; moocs
A new ecology for learning: An online ethnographic study of learners’ participation and experience in connectivist MOOCs
Saadatmand, Mohsen; Kumpulainen, Kristiina; Ilsley, Paul
This dissertation focuses on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) which have emerged and heralded as new online learning environments able to serve large numbers of students. Identifying two main types of MOOCs known as ...
Match: online learning; moocs
Massive open online courses: A review of usage and evaluation
Sinclair, Jane; Boyatt, Russell; Rocks, Claire; Joy, Mike
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 ...
Match: online learning; moocs
Rethinking A Framework for Contextualising and Collaborating in MOOCs by Higher Education Institutions in Africa
Erkkie, Haipinge; Kadhila, Ngepathimo
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses that are open to anyone with Internet access. Pioneered in North America, they were developed for contexts with broader access to technology and wider access to the ...
Match: online learning; moocs
The life between big data log events: Learners’ strategies to overcome challenges in MOOCs
Veletsianos, George; Reich, Justin; Pasquini, Laura A.
Big data from massive open online courses (MOOCs) have enabled researchers to examine learning processes at almost infinite levels of granularity. Yet, such data sets do not track every important element in the learning ...
Match: online learning; united states; north america
Towards a model of engaging online students: Lessons from MOOCs and four policy documents
Hew, Khe Foon
The paper describes a model of engaging students in fully online or blended learning environments. To do this, I first discuss the notion of student engagement and how it relates to the Self-Determination Theory of ...
Match: online learning; moocs