Towards understanding the MOOC trend: Pedagogical challenges and business opportunities

Abstract

Undoubtedly, MOOCs have the potential to introduce a new wave of technological innovation in learning. In spite of the great interest among the educators and the general public MOOCs have generated, there are some challenges that MOOCs might face when it comes to examining and determining the best pedagogical approaches that MOOCs should be based on. Moreover, MOOCs are facing also challenges towards building a consistent business model. The main objective of this paper is to shed more light on the MOOCs phenomenon, by analyzing and discussing some benefits and drawbacks of MOOCs from the pedagogical and business perspectives. Therefore, in this paper we provide an in-depth analysis of MOOCs challenges and opportunities towards determining pedagogical innovations. We also analyze current trends of MOOCs expansion to create new educational markets by overpassing the bricks-and-mortar educational institutions. To do so, we conduct a SWOT analysis on MOOCs. Finally, we provide possible directions and insights for future research to better understand how MOOCs can be improved to lead to greater innovations in the higher education landscape to answer the needs of a knowledge-based economy.