Team Brilliant (Emma Keating, Alison Kendrick, Karen McMurray, and myself) selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), specifically Coursera’s “The Science of Wellbeing” (TSW) to explore, research, and present. For my individual investigation into the use of MOOCs in education, my research will focus on inclusive/universal design and pedagogy for online learning.

Critical Issue

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in early spring 2020, the MOOC phenomenon has grown substantially (Impley & Formaneck, 2021). According to Coursera’s 2020 Impact Report, the platform saw a 353% increase in registered users (21 million) and a 444% jump in course enrollment (50 million) in 2020 compared to the same period the year before (Maggioncalda, 2020). As the world’s largest MOOC provider, with participants from every country (Coursera, 2012) and international enrollment rising (Shah, 2021), there is growing concern about whether Coursera courses are being designed to meet the needs of a culturally and linguistically diverse student population.

As defined by Schwartz (2012), a culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student refers to “an individual who comes from a home environment where a language other than English is spoken, and whose cultural values and background may differ from the mainstream culture.” (para 1). With recent estimates suggesting an overwhelming 80% of Coursera courses are presented in English (Agudo, 2019), my research will look at the exclusion of non-English speaking learners, and those native English speakers who reside in countries where standard English and a Western perspective do not apply to their local context.

Universal Design and Implications for MOOCs

To situate my findings, I will document my MOOC learning event using selected principles from universal design (Eberle & Childress, 2006), and evaluate it against what is known about successful distance online education for CLD students. Taking a design-based approach to my critical inquiry, I hope to reveal the socially-shaped nature of MOOC provision and practice and develop culturally plausible suggestions as to how to “redress the imbalances of power” that reside in the use of MOOCs as a medium for global education (Selwyn, 2010, p. 71).

Research Log

To date, I have not maintained a learning journal throughout the MALAT program, therefore I will open a Google Doc to document my personal observations and research findings for this assignment.

Research Questions

The following questions will be explored:

•  Is “The Science of Wellbeing” MOOC accessible to CLD students? Who might be intentionally or unintentionally restricted from it and for what reasons?
•  What elements of “The Science of Wellbeing” are suppressive and disadvantageous in the viewpoint of a CLD student?

Discussion

What barriers do you expect culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students to face when engaging with this technology? How can course designers create space for those outside the anglosphere? What can be done to reshape MOOC design along fairer and more equitable lines? As educational technologists, what is our role in addressing complex problems, such as the one presented here?

Check out “From Open to Closed: A Team Investigation into the Impact of MOOCs” (Breton et al., 2022) to learn more about MOOCs and see what others on my team are researching.

References

Adam, T. (2019). Digital neocolonialism and massive open online courses (MOOCs): Colonial pasts and neoliberal futures. Learning Media and Technology, 44(3),1-16. DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2019.1640740

Agudo, R. (2019, January 9). The Language of MOOCs. Insider Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2019/01/09/moocs-overwhelming-dependence-english-limits-their-impact-opinion

Coursera (2012, August 9). Coursera hits 1 million students across 196 countries [Blog]. Coursera. Retrieved from https://blog.coursera.org/coursera-hits-1-million-students-across-196/

Eberle, J. & Childress, M. (2006). Universal design for culturally diverse online learning. In Edmundson, A. (Ed.). Globalized e-Learning Cultural Challenges. https://www.academia.edu/810880/Universal_design_for_culturally_diverse_online_learning

Impley, C. & Formaneck, M. (2021). MOOCS and 100 days of COVID: Enrollment surges in massive open online astronomy classes during the coronavirus pandemic. ScienceDirect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100177

Lambert, S. (2019). Do MOOCs contribute to student equity and social inclusion? A systematic review 2014–18. ScienceDirect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103693

Maggioncalda, J. (2020). Coursera 2020 impact report. Coursera. Retrieved from https://about.coursera.org/press/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Coursera-Impact-Report-2020.pdf

Schwartz (2012). Culturally and linguistically diverse students. Pressbooks. Retrieved from http://languageeducation.pbworks.com/w/page/47665759/Culturally%20and%20Linguistically%20Diverse%20Students#:~:text=Definition,differ%20from%20the%20mainstream%20culture.

Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: Notes towards the critical study of educational technology. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x

Shah, D. (2021, December 14). Year of MOOC-based degrees: A review of MOOC stats and trends in 2021. ClassCentral. Retrieved from https://www.classcentral.com/report/moocs-stats-and-trends-2021/