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ERIC Number: EJ1149352
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2472-5749
EISSN: N/A
Open, Online, and Blended: Transactional Interactions with MOOC Content by Learners in Three Different Course Formats
Emanuel, Jeffrey P.; Lamb, Anne
Online Learning, v21 n2 2017
During the 2013-14 academic year, Harvard University piloted the use of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) as tools for blended learning in select undergraduate and graduate residential and online courses. One of these courses, The Ancient Greek Hero, combined for-credit (Harvard College and Harvard Extension School) and open online (HarvardX) groups into a single online unit, marking the first time a MOOC was used simultaneously by both tuition-paying, credit-seeking students and non-paying, non-credit students enrolled exclusively online. In this article, we analyze and compare the online behavior of students and participants in three groups that simultaneously participated in The Ancient Greek Hero via the edX platform. We find that, in similar fashion to a traditional learning setting, students enrolled in all three versions of the course engaged the online content in a transactional way, spending their time and effort on activities and exercises in ways that would optimize their desired outcomes. While user behavior was diverse, HarvardX participant engagement tended to be either very deep or virtually nonexistent, while College and Extension School students displayed relatively homogenous patterns of participation, viewing most of the content but interacting mostly with that which affected their overall course grades. Ultimately, educators who intend to utilize MOOC content in an effort to apply blended learning techniques to their classrooms should carefully consider how best to incorporate each online element into their overall pedagogical strategy, including how to incentivize interaction with those elements. Further, for MOOCs to have maximum impact, they must address multiple learner motivations and provide participants with multiple modes of interaction with the content and with their peers.
Online Learning Consortium, Inc. P.O. Box 1238, Newburyport, MA 01950. Tel: 888-898-6209; Fax: 888-898-6209; e-mail: olj@onlinelearning-c.org; Web site: http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/read/online-learning-journal/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts (Cambridge)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A