Massive numbers, diverse learning

Abstract

MOOCs provide education for millions of people worldwide. Though it is not clear whether everyone can learn in a MOOC. Building on the typology of MOOC participants introduced is in Chap. 3, and we explore the claim that MOOCs are for everyone. We trace the different reasons people participate in MOOCs and the ways they learn. MOOCs tend to be designed for people who are already able to learn as active, autonomous learners. Those with low confidence may be inactive. However, even learners who are confident and able to regulate their learning experience difficulties if they don’t comply with the expectations of the course designers or their peers. For example, if a learner chooses to learn by observing others, rather than contributing, this behaviour can be perceived negatively by tutors and by peers. This indicates that MOOCs sustain the traditional hierarchy between the educators (those that create MOOCs and technology systems) and the learners (those who use these courses and systems). Although this hierarchy is not always visible, since it is embedded within the algorithms and analytics that power MOOC tools and platforms.