- Prevalence of knowledge, but lack of defined association with the term "MOOC".

- Majority of students and staff support the creation of MOOCs.

- Student exposure to MOOCs mirrors faculty exposure to MOOCs.

Student/Faculty Prior Knowledge of MOOCs

Respondents were more likely to report positive experiences via survey or discussion. The mean rating from 1(poor) to 7 (excellent) regarding the course was 5.7 for certificate earners and 5.5 for non-certs. A majority of the students shared positive feedback about their instructor and forums as well with a mean of at least 4 for related survey questions on the same 1-5 scale seen below. Below, students were prompted to share to what extent they agree with the following statements on a scale of 1-5 (strongly disagree-strongly agree). 

Student Attitudes Post-Completion

Student Motivations for Enrolling in Duke University's First MOOC

Over 50% of the students involved in the flipped learning experiment engaged with the course videos. The most students viewed every video the second week as opposed to completion rates for other weeks. The number of students who did the online exercises declined sharply as the weeks went on. When explanations of correct answers were not provided, students had a tendency to become disengaged.

To what extent do students participate in MOOCs?

Self Efficacy (SE): Self confidence in one's ability to perform tasks that will result in a desired outcome. 
Self Regulated Learning (SRL): The physical process of taking control of one's learning outcomes.

A paired samples t-test was chosen to compare test scores prior to and after introducing a flipped learning environment. At a significance level of 0.05, there was no significant difference between the scores (t value was 0.8).

Role of MOOCs in Self Efficacy and Self Regulated Learning

Measures different types of MOOC engagement  (i.e. social learning, content interaction). 

Participation in MOOCs

MOOCs have been shown to aid in virtual learning. However, transcending surface level learning (isolated memorization) to delve into deep learning (critical analysis, relating ideas, examining logic) may require consideration of the following factors:
- Implementing peer support (discussions, forums, partnerships).
- Frequency and scale of evaluations (smaller, more frequent evaluations were preferred in this case)
- Language barriers as a positive and/or negative challenge and the impact of language proficiency on workload. 
- Importance of previous knowledge (even in courses where there is no specific pre-req)
- Balance between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation
- Required activities vs. self-guided learning


Considerations for Promoting Deep Learning via MOOCs

- The perception of social presence differs between students (regular, occasional, non-posters) for forum activity levels.
- Students who participate in forums have higher social presence scores than the group average (social presence is meaningful to those who regularly post).
- Social presence is dependent on how long the course is and forum interaction.
- The highest social presence was presented in a group with the smallest number of students.
   - This could be due to smaller courses allowing students to take in all the information on forums (not be overwhelmed) and establish a social presence. While larger courses with more active students, it will be harder for all the students to grasp all the information and establish a social presence.
- In a larger number of student groups, social presence was high for students who posted frequently and interacted on the forums more than students who did not participate.

Social Presence in Massive Open Online Courses

The MOOC student experience encompasses learning, feedback, participation, attitudes, preexisting knowledge, social presence, teaching presence, and motivation.

San Jose State University

Google

Stands for massive open online courses. They are online courses created with the goal of enabling massive (near unlimited) participation. Often incorporate prerecorded lectures, interactive lessons and user forums. 

MOOCs

MOOCs are often combined with traditional teaching methods to create different blended learning environments.

MOOCs in blended learning

- The term "MOOC" was first used in 2008 in reference to an online course called “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge” by the University of Manitoba (Canada). Since, MOOC was considered "the educational buzzword of 2012" and has been inundated with commercial perspectives. The issue with past research regarding MOOCs is that much of the "research" has been intended as promotional material.

- The movement for open course ware can be linked to 2001 with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's OpenCourseWare platform. This allowed for course material to exist permanently on the internet with respective permissions for re-use and distribution. Other notable early MOOC projects include the Open University of UK and Open Learning Initiative by Carnegie Mellon University. 

- Currently, many MOOC platforms operate via partnerships between top universities. Prime examples of this are Coursera, edX, and Udacity. 

- Recognized academic research on MOOCs began to appear in 2008. 

Origins of MOOCs

This literature review of MOOC scholarship from 2008-2012 identifies eight themes that are stated as the following:

- Trends
- Technology
- Pedagogies
- Learner Experience
- Dangers
- Actor Network Theory
- Connectivism
- Agency

Consistent Themes Found Within MOOC Literature

- Most research occurs from the experience of the students
- There is a gap in terms of the experience of instructors or operators/facilitators
- There is missing information in terms of how disputes between participants are dealt with, particularly aggressive behavior that discourages participation from bystanding learners. 
- Cultural differences/tensions of participants remains a gap.
- Data on blogs, social media sites, and Twitter remains unexplored.
- Ethical considerations of MOOC user data could be further fleshed out.
- MOOC learning in developing countries
- Strategies of successful students
- Completion rates as opposed to dropout rates
- Specific motivations that drive students through MOOCs
- Recognition/accreditation for MOOCs
- Validating assessments of MOOC participants 

Gaps in the MOOC Literature

- course structure
- instructional type
- subject matter
- content delivery
- communication channels

MOOC Design

MOOCS in the Classroom

Conole (2013) proposes 12 dimensions that can be used in evaluating MOOCs and in designing them. 

12 Dimensions of MOOCs

- course structure
- instructional type
- content delivery
- social channels

Ulrich, C., & Nedelcu, A. (2015, May 22). MOOCs in Our University: Hopes and Worries. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.304

MOOCs in Our University: Hopes and Worries

This node categorizes references, studies, and academic literature related to Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).

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