What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis
Since the first offering of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in 2008, the body of literature on this new phenomenon of open learning has grown tremendously. In this regard, this article intends to identify and map patterns in research on MOOCs by reviewing 362 empirical articles published in peer...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Athabasca University Press
2018-02-01
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| Series: | International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3356 |
| _version_ | 1818832741303582720 |
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| author | Olaf Zawacki-Richter Aras Bozkurt Uthman Alturki Ahmed Aldraiweesh |
| author_facet | Olaf Zawacki-Richter Aras Bozkurt Uthman Alturki Ahmed Aldraiweesh |
| author_sort | Olaf Zawacki-Richter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the first offering of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in 2008, the body of literature on this new phenomenon of open learning has grown tremendously. In this regard, this article intends to identify and map patterns in research on MOOCs by reviewing 362 empirical articles published in peer-reviewed journals from 2008 to 2015. For the purposes of this study, a text-mining tool was used to analyse the content of the published research journal articles and to reveal the major themes and concepts covered in the publications. The findings reveal that the MOOC literature generally focuses on four lines of research: (a) the potential and challenges of MOOCs for universities; (b) MOOC platforms; (c) learners and content in MOOCs; and (d) the quality of MOOCs and instructional design issues. Prospective researchers may use these results to gain an overview of this emerging field, as well as to explore potential research directions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T02:07:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5a7bfeea47ce4061982ff2b97f4c0024 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1492-3831 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T02:07:51Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | Athabasca University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning |
| spelling | doaj.art-5a7bfeea47ce4061982ff2b97f4c00242022-12-21T20:40:53ZengAthabasca University PressInternational Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning1492-38312018-02-0119110.19173/irrodl.v19i1.3356What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content AnalysisOlaf Zawacki-Richter0Aras Bozkurt1Uthman Alturki2Ahmed Aldraiweesh3Carl von Ossietzky University of OldenburgAnadolu UniversityKing Saud UniversityKing Saud UniversitySince the first offering of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in 2008, the body of literature on this new phenomenon of open learning has grown tremendously. In this regard, this article intends to identify and map patterns in research on MOOCs by reviewing 362 empirical articles published in peer-reviewed journals from 2008 to 2015. For the purposes of this study, a text-mining tool was used to analyse the content of the published research journal articles and to reveal the major themes and concepts covered in the publications. The findings reveal that the MOOC literature generally focuses on four lines of research: (a) the potential and challenges of MOOCs for universities; (b) MOOC platforms; (c) learners and content in MOOCs; and (d) the quality of MOOCs and instructional design issues. Prospective researchers may use these results to gain an overview of this emerging field, as well as to explore potential research directions.http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3356distance educationopen and distance learningmassive open online coursesMOOCscontent analysis |
| spellingShingle | Olaf Zawacki-Richter Aras Bozkurt Uthman Alturki Ahmed Aldraiweesh What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning distance education open and distance learning massive open online courses MOOCs content analysis |
| title | What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis |
| title_full | What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis |
| title_fullStr | What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis |
| title_short | What Research Says About MOOCs – An Explorative Content Analysis |
| title_sort | what research says about moocs an explorative content analysis |
| topic | distance education open and distance learning massive open online courses MOOCs content analysis |
| url | http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3356 |
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