Disruptive democratisers? The complexities and incongruities of scale, diversity and personalisation in MOOCs

Hood, N. and Littlejohn, A. (2018) Disruptive democratisers? The complexities and incongruities of scale, diversity and personalisation in MOOCs. In: Ossiannilsson, E. (ed.) Ubiquitous Inclusive Learning in a Digital Era. Series: Advances in educational technologies and instructional design. IGI Global: Hershey, PA, pp. 1-28. ISBN 9781522562924 (doi: 10.4018/978-1-5225-6292-4.ch001)

Abstract

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are described as disruptive and democratising. It is claimed MOOCs have characteristics that challenge traditional forms of education. This chapter critiques these claims, arguing that MOOCs do not always allow for the diverse motivations of masses of learners. This brings into question forms of data-based support based on and in response to learner behaviours. The chapter interrogates narrative accounts of MOOC learner experiences to pinpoint four distinct ways people learn in MOOCs. Factors critical to learning are motivation, self-regulation, environment and socialisation. Developing analytic tools that address these are important. However, analytics systems tend to personalise learner support in relation to pre-defined course goals, rather than focusing on the goals of the learner. Next generation systems are already focusing on empowering learners to follow their own goals and flexing course designs to fit the goals of each learner. These are more powerful than systems where the students have to adapt to a course designed for the masses.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Littlejohn, Professor Allison
• Authors: Hood, N., and Littlejohn, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Publisher: IGI Global
• ISSN: 2326-8905
• ISBN: 9781522562924