Learners - The discussion on MOOCs deals with learners in a very abstract manner

EUA has published its second Occasional Paper on the topic of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Authored by Michael Gaebel, Director of the Higher Education Policy Unit at EUA, it also looks in detail at a number of issues related to the development of MOOCs that are directly relevant for universities.
The full paper can be downloaded here.
Learners
Many of the reports and articles that talk about the disruption in higher education systems and institutions that will transform higher education learning, paint the picture of economic and reputational competition between higher education institutions, with masses of young people from around the globe seeking the best possible education they can get. Assumptions are that MOOCs would widen access, and allow those learners from around the globe who cannot afford conventional study, who do not have enough time or cannot attend a classroom, to have access to higher education.
As a matter of fact, little is known about the profiles of MOOC participants, about their motivation to sign up and the actual benefits that derive from MOOCs.
The participant maps show that participants come from all those places in the world which can be reached via internet, again with a high density in regions where higher education access is available for a large fraction of the population. Interestingly, cases such as the “Ulan Bator boy” – a 16-yearold who successfully completed the MIT course on electrical circuits – suggest that besides exceptional talent, institutional and family support are of great importance.
Analysis suggests that unless MOOCs have a specific social or professional target or are put into the context of institutions or organisations, the vast majority of participants are higher education students, former students or upper secondary school pupils, who are quite likely to enter higher education. The University of Madison Wisconsin and University of Edinburgh both report that around 70% of MOOC participants are university graduates. A study conducted on 35,000 MOOC participants of Pennsylvania University produced similar results, and also confirmed that participants from emerging countries usually belong to the educated and wealthy part of society, who are likely to have access to higher education. Random inquiries in the European environment over the past months suggest that MOOCs are more likely to be attended by younger people: young professionals, not too removed from the world of learning, who would also see this as a possibility either to gain additional knowledge and skills for their professional practice, or use this as a retreat from a relatively dull daily work routine that offers little intellectual stimulation. Currently enrolled students might sign up for MOOCs to gain additional knowledge, get a “second opinion” or for remedial purposes, but maybe also for intellectual enjoyment in areas far away from their actual study fields. But these are somehow anecdotal, not built on systematic research and appropriate data samples. Academic teachers should give it a try and ask their students: how many of you are doing a MOOC, and why? This could help to find out whether they sign up for MOOCs because they want the best education in the world – which is the assumption made in a number of reports: all students would prefer to study at some of the world’s top institutions. What seems to contradict this assumption is that MOOC participants often do not recall which institution actually provided the course they attended.
This and the low importance that institutional affiliation seems to play on some of the platforms (e.g. some of Udacity and many of the Udemy courses) seems to suggest that there is an audience that is focusing on themes and knowledge more than on institutional reputation. This may be true, in particular, for European participants who are educated or have been educated in national systems that have not been stratified by rankings etc. This does not mean that the quality of content and teaching is of no importance to them. Given that the MOOC offer in some subject areas is quite broad, one occasionally hears statements like the following: “I signed up for a course, did not like it, and found a better one on the same topic.” Given the opportunity, learners make choices, both in online and face-to-face education. Download the full paper here.