Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals

Massive Open Online Courses have emerged as a popular mechanism for independent learners to acquire new knowledge and skills; however, the challenge of learning online without dedicated tutor support requires learners to self-motivate. This study explores the primary motivations reported by particip...

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Autores principales:	Colin Milligan, Allison Littlejohn
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Athabasca University Press 2017
Materias:	MOOCs professional development motivation Special aspects of education LC8-6691
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/febecea24f164a878795e635265ef2f6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:febecea24f164a878795e635265ef2f62021-12-02T19:25:48ZWhy Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals10.19173/irrodl.v18i2.30331492-3831https://doaj.org/article/febecea24f164a878795e635265ef2f62017-04-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3033https://doaj.org/toc/1492-3831Massive Open Online Courses have emerged as a popular mechanism for independent learners to acquire new knowledge and skills; however, the challenge of learning online without dedicated tutor support requires learners to self-motivate. This study explores the primary motivations reported by participants in two MOOCs: Fundamentals of Clinical Trials and Introduction to Data Science (n=970). Each MOOC drew a diverse cohort of participants ranging from professionals working in the field to students preparing to enter it. Across both MOOCs, a similar profile of primary motivations emerged, with respondents identifying the potential benefits to their current role, or future career, alongside more general responses reflecting casual interest in the topic or a simple desire to learn. Professionals were primarily motivated by current needs, describing how the course could fill gaps in their formal knowledge, broaden their skillset to increase their effectiveness at work, or enable them to innovate. Professionals also saw the benefit of MOOC study in preparing them for new roles and career progression. Students, meanwhile, used MOOC study to complement their other learning. It is clear that MOOC study represents a popular mechanism for professionals to address both current and future learning needs. Colin MilliganAllison LittlejohnAthabasca University PressarticleMOOCsprofessional developmentmotivationSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691ENInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, Vol 18, Iss 2 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	MOOCs professional development motivation Special aspects of education LC8-6691
spellingShingle	MOOCs professional development motivation Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Colin Milligan Allison Littlejohn Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals
description	Massive Open Online Courses have emerged as a popular mechanism for independent learners to acquire new knowledge and skills; however, the challenge of learning online without dedicated tutor support requires learners to self-motivate. This study explores the primary motivations reported by participants in two MOOCs: Fundamentals of Clinical Trials and Introduction to Data Science (n=970). Each MOOC drew a diverse cohort of participants ranging from professionals working in the field to students preparing to enter it. Across both MOOCs, a similar profile of primary motivations emerged, with respondents identifying the potential benefits to their current role, or future career, alongside more general responses reflecting casual interest in the topic or a simple desire to learn. Professionals were primarily motivated by current needs, describing how the course could fill gaps in their formal knowledge, broaden their skillset to increase their effectiveness at work, or enable them to innovate. Professionals also saw the benefit of MOOC study in preparing them for new roles and career progression. Students, meanwhile, used MOOC study to complement their other learning. It is clear that MOOC study represents a popular mechanism for professionals to address both current and future learning needs.
format	article
author	Colin Milligan Allison Littlejohn
author_facet	Colin Milligan Allison Littlejohn
author_sort	Colin Milligan
title	Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals
title_short	Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals
title_full	Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals
title_fullStr	Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals
title_full_unstemmed	Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals
title_sort	why study on a mooc? the motives of students and professionals
publisher	Athabasca University Press
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/febecea24f164a878795e635265ef2f6
work_keys_str_mv	AT colinmilligan whystudyonamoocthemotivesofstudentsandprofessionals AT allisonlittlejohn whystudyonamoocthemotivesofstudentsandprofessionals
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Why Study on a MOOC? The Motives of Students and Professionals

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