Emerging Patterns in MOOC: learners, course designs and directions

Hamish Macleod; Jeff Haywood; Amy Woodgate; Mubarak Alkhatnai

doi:10.1007/s11528-014-0821-y

Emerging Patterns in MOOC: learners, course designs and directions

Hamish Macleod, Jeff Haywood, Amy Woodgate, Mubarak Alkhatnai

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Engagement with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at the University of Edinburgh has emerged from its strategic priorities to explore and innovate in the area of online and technologically supported approaches to teaching and learning. This paper provides an account of analysis aimed at understanding who Edinburgh MOOC learners are, who elects to participate and the aspirations of that population, and the place that the MOOC will occupy in the University’s online learning ecology. The analysis addresses a number of predictions that have been made about MOOCs since 2012, including their use for providing educational opportunities to the disadvantaged; global uptake of online learning; growth of an ‘educational imperialism’; and the claim that ‘MOOCs are for male geeks’, and concludes with some observations about the University of Edinburgh’s future plans in this space.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	56-63
Journal	TechTrends
Volume	59
Issue number	1
Early online date	21 Dec 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-014-0821-y
Publication status	Published - Jan 2015

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

digital education
higher education
MOOCs
widening participation

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Cite this

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title = "Emerging Patterns in MOOC: learners, course designs and directions",

abstract = "Engagement with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at the University of Edinburgh has emerged from its strategic priorities to explore and innovate in the area of online and technologically supported approaches to teaching and learning. This paper provides an account of analysis aimed at understanding who Edinburgh MOOC learners are, who elects to participate and the aspirations of that population, and the place that the MOOC will occupy in the University{\textquoteright}s online learning ecology. The analysis addresses a number of predictions that have been made about MOOCs since 2012, including their use for providing educational opportunities to the disadvantaged; global uptake of online learning; growth of an {\textquoteleft}educational imperialism{\textquoteright}; and the claim that {\textquoteleft}MOOCs are for male geeks{\textquoteright}, and concludes with some observations about the University of Edinburgh{\textquoteright}s future plans in this space.",

keywords = "digital education, higher education, MOOCs, widening participation",

author = "Hamish Macleod and Jeff Haywood and Amy Woodgate and Mubarak Alkhatnai",

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AU - Macleod, Hamish

AU - Haywood, Jeff

AU - Woodgate, Amy

AU - Alkhatnai, Mubarak

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N2 - Engagement with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at the University of Edinburgh has emerged from its strategic priorities to explore and innovate in the area of online and technologically supported approaches to teaching and learning. This paper provides an account of analysis aimed at understanding who Edinburgh MOOC learners are, who elects to participate and the aspirations of that population, and the place that the MOOC will occupy in the University’s online learning ecology. The analysis addresses a number of predictions that have been made about MOOCs since 2012, including their use for providing educational opportunities to the disadvantaged; global uptake of online learning; growth of an ‘educational imperialism’; and the claim that ‘MOOCs are for male geeks’, and concludes with some observations about the University of Edinburgh’s future plans in this space.

AB - Engagement with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at the University of Edinburgh has emerged from its strategic priorities to explore and innovate in the area of online and technologically supported approaches to teaching and learning. This paper provides an account of analysis aimed at understanding who Edinburgh MOOC learners are, who elects to participate and the aspirations of that population, and the place that the MOOC will occupy in the University’s online learning ecology. The analysis addresses a number of predictions that have been made about MOOCs since 2012, including their use for providing educational opportunities to the disadvantaged; global uptake of online learning; growth of an ‘educational imperialism’; and the claim that ‘MOOCs are for male geeks’, and concludes with some observations about the University of Edinburgh’s future plans in this space.

KW - digital education

KW - higher education

KW - MOOCs

KW - widening participation

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DO - 10.1007/s11528-014-0821-y

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SN - 8756-3894

VL - 59

SP - 56

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JO - TechTrends

JF - TechTrends

IS - 1

ER -

Emerging Patterns in MOOC: learners, course designs and directions

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Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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