MOOCS & PARTICIPATION INEQUALITIES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW 2009-2019

Ioannis Zafras, Apostolos Kostas, Alivizos Sofos

Abstract


The extent to which Multiple Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provide an alternative educational model to less privileged social groups is still under investigation. Purpose of this study is to examine how various social, demographic, and educational factors influence learners’ participation in MOOCs. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was deployed focusing on empirical research published between 2009-2019. Analysis and synthesis of the literature revealed that both the geographical location and the professional status of learners have a positive impact on self-regulated learning. Learners from North America and Europe have significantly higher levels of ICT and self-regulated learning skills than learners from other regions. Moreover, inequalities persist as most MOOCs users have a better educational and professional background in relation to the general population. This study helps to further understand the profile of the “average MOOC user” and contribute to the related scientific discussion about MOOCs initiative.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


MOOCs, participation inequalities, distance education, PRISMA

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adham, R. S., & Lundqvist, K. O. (2015). MOOCS As A Method of Distance Education in the Arab World - A Review Paper. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 18(1), 123–138.

Albelbisi, N., Yusop, F. D., & Salleh, U. K. M. (2018). Mapping the Factors Influencing Success of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in Higher Education. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(7), 2995–3012.

Alcorn, B., Christensen, G., & Kapur, D. (2015a). Higher Education and MOOCs in India and the Global South. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 47(3), 42–49.

Al-Rahmi, W., Aldraiweesh, A., Yahaya, N., Bin Kamin, Y., & Zeki, A. M. (2019). Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Data on higher education. Data in Brief, 22, 118–125.

Alzahrani, A. (2018). The Changes in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Studies between 2012 and 2017- A Review of Literature. World Journal of Education, 8(4), 59.

Audsley, S., Fernando, K., Maxson, B., Robinson, B., & Varney, K. (2013). An Examination of Coursera as an Information Environment: Does Coursera Fulfill its Mission to Provide Open Education to All? Edited by Rick J. Block. The Serials Librarian, 65(2), 136–166.

Balula, A. (2015). The promotion of digital inclusion through MOOC design and use: a literature review. Tecnologias da Informação em Educação.Indagatio Didactica, 7(1).

Baturay, M. H. (2015). An Overview of the World of MOOCs. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 174, 427–433.

Bayeck, R. Y. (2016). Exploratory study of MOOC learners’ demographics and motivation: The case of students involved in groups. Open Praxis, 8(3), 223–233.

Beltran, P., Rodriguez-Ch, P., & Cedillo, P. (2017). A Systematic Literature Review for Development, Implementation and Deployment of MOOCs Focused on Older People. 2017 International Conference on Information Systems and Computer Science (INCISCOS), 287–294.

Bong, W. K., & Chen, W. (2016). How Accessible Are MOOCs to the Elderly? In K. Miesenberger, C. Bühler, & P. Penaz (Eds.), Computers Helping People with Special Needs (Vol. 9758, pp. 437–444).

Brahim, H. B., Khribi, M. K., & Jemni, M. (2017). Towards accessible open educational resources: Overview and challenges. 2017 6th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Accessibility (ICTA).

Cabedo, R., Tovar, E., Martin, S., Llamas, M., Caeiro, M., Martinez, O., … Reisman, S. (2018). Who are Interested in Open Education? An Analysis of the Participants in the First MOOC of the IEEE Education Society. 2018 IEEE 42nd Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC), 310–314.

Christensen, G., Steinmetz, A., Alcorn, B., Bennett, A., Woods, D., & Emanuel, E. (n.d.). The MOOC Phenomenon: Who Takes Massive Open Online Courses and Why? Working Paper. 25.

Clow, D. (2013). MOOCs and the funnel of participation. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge - LAK ’13, 185.

Crues, R. W., Henricks, G. M., Perry, M., Bhat, S., Anderson, C. J., Shaik, N., & Angrave, L. (2018). How do Gender, Learning Goals, and Forum Participation Predict Persistence in a Computer Science MOOC? ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 18(4), 1–14.

Comeau, J. D., & Cheng, T. L. (2013). Digital “Tsunami” in Higher Education: Democratization Movement Towards Open and Free Education. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 14(3), 198–224.

De Boer., Breslow, L., David, E., Stump, G.S, Ho, A., Seaton D. (2013).Studying Learning in the Worldwide Classroom. Research & Practice in Assessment, v8 p13-25 Sum 2013.

Deng, R., & Benckendorff, P. (2017). A contemporary review of research methods adopted to understand students’ and instructors’ use of massive open online courses (MOOCs). International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 7(8), 601-607.

Despujol, I. M., Turro, C., Busqueis, J., & Canero, A. (2014). Analysis of demographics and results of student’s opinion survey of a large scale MOOC deployment for the Spanish speaking community. 2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings, 1–8.

Dillahunt, T. R., Wang, B. Z., & Teasley, S. (2014). Democratizing higher education: Exploring MOOC use among those who cannot afford a formal education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 15(5).

Ebben, M., & Murphy, J. S. (2014). Unpacking MOOC scholarly discourse: A review of nascent MOOC scholarship. Learning, Media, and Technology, 39(3), 328–345.

Evans, S., & McIntyre, K. (2016). MOOCs in the humanities: Can they reach underprivileged students? Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 22(3), 313–323.

Eichhorn, S., & Matkin, G. W. (2016). Massive Open Online Courses, Big Data, and Education Research: Massive Open Online Courses, Big Data, and Education Research. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2015(167), 27–40.

Conducting research literature reviews: from the Internet to paper. (2005). Choice Reviews Online, 42(11). doi: 10.5860/choice.42-6198

Fink, A. (2005). Conducting research literature reviews: from the internet to paper. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Gameel, B. G., & Wilkins, K. G. (2019). When it comes to MOOCs, where you are from makes a difference. Computers & Education, 136, 49–60.

Garrido, M., Koepke, L., Andersen, S., & Mena, A. F. (n.d.). The Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative. Final Report, 125.

Gil-Jaurena, I., Callejo-Gallego, J., &Agudo, Y. (2017). Evaluation of the UNED MOOCs Implementation: Demographics, Learners’ Opinions and Completion Rates. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(7).

Glass, C. R., Shiokawa-Baklan, M. S., & Saltarelli, A. J. (2016). Who Takes MOOCs? : Who Takes MOOCs? New Directions for Institutional Research, 2015(167), 41–55.

Goglio, V., & Parigi, P. (2018). The Social Dimension of Participation and Completion in MOOCs. 2018 Learning with MOOCS (LWMOOCS), 85–89.

Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26(2), 91–108.

Haber, J. (2014). MOOCs. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Hansen, J. D., & Reich, J. (2015). Democratizing education? Examining access and usage patterns in massive open online courses. Science, 350(6265), 1245–1248.

Hansen, J. D., & Reich, J. (2015, March). Socioeconomic status and MOOC enrollment: enriching demographic information with external datasets. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (pp. 59-63).

Haywood, J. (2016). Learning from MOOCs: lessons for the future. In E. de Corte L. Engwall & U. Teichler (Eds.). From Books to MOOCs? Emerging Models of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, p.69-80. Oregon: Portland Press Limited.

Hill, C., & Lawton, W. (2018). Universities, the digital divide, and global inequality. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 40(6), 598–610.

Ho, A. D., Reich, J., Nesterko, S. O., Seaton, D. T., Mullaney, T., Waldo, J., & Chuang, I. (2014). HarvardX and MITx: The First Year of Open Online Courses, Fall 2012-Summer 2013. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Holford, J., Jarvis, P., Milana, M., Waller, R., & Webb, S. (2014). The MOOC phenomenon: Toward lifelong education for all? International Journal of Lifelong Education, 33(5), 569–572.

Hollands, F. M., & Tirthali, D. (2014). Resource requirements and costs of developing and delivering MOOCs. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 15(5).

Hood, N., Littlejohn, A., & Milligan, C. (2015). Context counts: How learners’ contexts influence learning in a MOOC. Computers & Education, 91, 83–91.

Jan A. G. M. Van Dijk. (2017). Digital Divide: Impact of Access. The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects, 1–11.

Jacoby, J. (2014). The disruptive potential of the Massive Open Online Course: A literature review. Journal of Open, Flexible, and Distance Learning, 18(1), 73-85. Distance Education Association of New Zealand. Retrieved October 31, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/148551/.

Jemni, M. (2017). Open education: from OERs to MOOCs. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Jiang, S., Schenke, K., Eccles, J. S., Xu, D., & Warschauer, M. (2018). Cross-national comparison of gender differences in the enrollment in and completion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Massive Open Online Courses. PLOSONE, 13(9), e0202463.

Kassabian D., (2014). Massive open online courses (MOOCS) at elite, early-adopter universities: Goals, progress, and value proposition. University of Pennsylvania, Dissertation Thesis.

Kennedy, J. (2014). Characteristics of massive open online courses (MOOCs): A research review, 2009-2012. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 13(1).

King, M., Pegrum, M., & Forsey, M. (2018). MOOCs and OER in the Global South: Problems and Potential. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(5).

Kizilcec, R. F., Saltarelli, A. J., Reich, J., & Cohen, G. L. (2017). Closing global achievement gaps in MOOCs. Science, 355(6322), 251–252.

Kostas, A., Kaseris, N., Sofos, A., Tsolakidis, K., & Bratsalis, K. (2012). Educational web communities in Greece: A critical survey and measurement of sense of community index. UFV Research Review: A Special Topics Journal, 4(3)

Lane, A. (2013). The potential of MOOCs to widen access to, and success in, higher education study. http://www.eadtu.eu/images/stories/Docs/Conference_2013/eadtu%20annual%20conference%202013%20-%20proceedings.pdf

Lane, A. (2012). A review of the role of national policy and institutional mission in European distance teaching universities with respect to widening participation in higher education study through open educational resources. Distance Education, 33(2), 135–150.

Lane, A., Caird, S., & Weller, M. (2014). The potential social, economic, and environmental benefits of MOOCs: Operational and historical comparisons with a massive ‘closed online’ course. Open Praxis, 6(2), 115–123.

Laurillard, D., & Kennedy, E. (2017). The potential of MOOCs for learning at scale in the Global South. Center for Global Higher Education. Working Paper.

Lee, K. (2017). Rethinking the accessibility of online higher education: A historical review. The Internet and Higher Education, 33, 15–23.

Literat, I. (2015). Implications of massive open online courses for higher education: Mitigating or reifying educational inequities? Higher Education Research & Development, 34(6), 1164–1177.

Liyanagunawardena, T. R., Adams, A. A., & Williams, S. A. (2013). MOOCs: A systematic study of the published literature 2008-2012. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 14(3), 202.

Liyanagunawardena, T. R., Williams, S., & Adams, A. A. (2014). The impact and reach of MOOCs: a developing countries’ perspective. eLearning Papers, 38-46.

Munn, Z., Peters, M. D. J., Stern, C., Tufanaru, C., Mcarthur, A., & Aromataris, E. (2018). Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1).

Making sense of MOOCS: a guide for policy makers in developing countries; 2016. (n.d.). 99.

Peter, S., & Deimann, M. (2013). On the role of openness in education: A historical reconstruction. Open Praxis, 5(1).

Pollack Ichou, R. (2018). Can MOOCs reduce global inequality in education? Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 26(2), 116–120.

Porter, S. (2015). To Mooc or not to Mooc: How can online learning help to build the future of higher education? Kidlington: Chandos Publishing.

Pursel, B. K., Zhang, L., Jablokow, K. W., Choi, G. W., & Velegol, D. (2016). Understanding MOOC students: Motivations and behaviors indicative of MOOC completion: MOOC student motivations and behaviors. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 32(3), 202–217.

Raffaghelli, J. E., Cucchiara, S., & Persico, D. (2015). Methodological approaches in MOOC research: Retracing the myth of Proteus. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46(3), 488–509.

Rhoads, R. A. (2015). MOOCs, high technology, & higher learning. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Rohs, M., & Ganz, M. (2015). MOOCs and the claim of education for all: A disillusion by empirical data. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(6).

Rolfe, V. (2015). A Systematic Review of The Socio-Ethical Aspects of Massive Online Open Courses. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 18(1), 52–71.

Ruiperez-Valiente, J. A., & Reich, J. (2018). Participation of the Arab World in MOOCs. 2018 Learning with MOOCS (LWMOOCS), 47–50.

Sanchez-Gordon, S., & Lujan-Mora, S. (2016). E-Education in countries with low and medium human development levels using MOOCs. 2016 Third International Conference on E-Democracy & EGovernment (ICEDEG), 151–158.

Sanchez-Gordon, S., & Luján-Mora, S. (2018). Research challenges in accessible MOOCs: A systematic literature review 2008–2016. Universal Access in the Information Society, 17(4), 775–789.

Sanchez-Gordon, S., & Luján-Mora, S. (n.d.). How Could MOOCs Become Accessible? The Case of edX and the Future of Inclusive Online Learning. 27.

Schmid, L., Manturuk, K., Simpkins, I., Goldwasser, M., & Whitfield, K. E. (2015). Fulfilling the promise: Do MOOCs reach the educationally underserved? Educational Media International, 52(2), 116–128.

Shrader, S., Wu, M., Owens-Nicholson, D., & Santa Ana, K. (2016). Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Participant Activity, Demographics, and Satisfaction. Online Learning, 20(2).

Stich, A. E., & Reeves, T. D. (2017). Massive open online courses and underserved students in the United States. The Internet and Higher Education, 32, 58–71.

Tang, H., & Wang, N. (.). Have Massive Open Online Courses Disrupted Higher Education around the Globe? Exploring the Cultural Perspective. 10.

Valentin, C. (2015). MOOCs Global Digital Divide: Reality or Myth? In Handbook of research on innovative technology integration in higher education (pp. 376-397). IGI Global.

Van de Oudeweetering, K., & Agirdag, O. (2018). Demographic data of MOOC learners: Can alternative survey deliveries improve current understandings? Computers & Education, 122, 169–178.

Van de Oudeweetering, K., & Agirdag, O. (2018). MOOCS as Accelerators of Social Mobility? A Systematic Review. Educational Technology & Society, 21 (1), 1–11.

Veletsianos, G., & Shepherdson, P. (2016). A Systematic Analysis and Synthesis of the Empirical MOOC Literature Published in 2013–2015. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 17(2).

Wang, Y., & Baker, R. (2015). Content or platform: Why do students complete MOOCs? 11(1), 14.

Wang, Y., Fikes, T. G., & Pettyjohn, P. (2018). Open Scale Courses: Exploring Access and Opportunity for Less-Educated Learners. 2018 Learning with MOOCS (LWMOOCS), 102–105.

Yousef, A. M. F., Chatti, M. A., Schroeder, U., Wosnitza, M., & Jakobs, H. (2015). The State of MOOCs from 2008 to 2014: A Critical Analysis and Future Visions. In S.

Zhang, X. (2013). Income disparity and digital divide: The Internet Consumption Model and cross-country empirical research. Telecommunications Policy, 37(6-7), 515–529.

Zvacek, M. T. Restivo, J. Uhomoibhi, & M. Helfert (Eds.), Computer Supported Education (Vol. 510, pp. 305–327).

Yousef, A. M. F., Chatti, M. A., Schroeder, U., Wosnitza, M., &Jakobs, H. (2014). A Review of the State-of-the-Art. Proceedings of CSEDU, 9-20. http://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/article/MOOCs---A-Review-of-the-State-of-the-Art

Zhu, M., Sari, A., & Lee, M. M. (2018). A systematic review of research methods and topics of the empirical MOOC literature (2014–2016). The Internet and Higher Education, 37, 31–39.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejoe.v5i1.3260

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright © 2016-2023. European Journal of Open Education and E-learning Studies (ISSN 2501-9120) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library (Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei). All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms.

All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).