Exactly how is personalization operationalized with the design & delivery of open courses?

A study was conducted to better understand how massive open online courses (MOOC) instructors adapt their courses to enhance or personalize MOOC design and delivery. This study explored the activities, tools, and resources that instructors of MOOCs used to improve the personalization of their MOOCs. Following email interviews with 22 MOOC and open education leaders, regarding MOOC personalization, a questionnaire was developed and completed by 152 MOOC instructors from around the world. While more than 8 in 10 respondents claimed heavy involved in designing their MOOCs, only one-third placed extensive effort on meeting unique learner needs during the actual design of that course and even fewer were concerned with personalization during the delivery of it. An array of instructional practices, technology tools, and content resources were leveraged by instructors to personalize MOOC-based learning environments. Aligning with previous research, the chief resources and tools employed in their MOOCs were discussion forums, video lectures, supplemental readings, and practice quizzes. Additionally, self-monitoring and peer-based methods of learner feedback were more common than instructor monitoring and/or feedback. Some respondents mentioned the use of flexible deadlines, proposed alternatives to course assignments, and introduced multimedia elements, mobile applications, and guest speakers among the ways in which they personalized their massive courses. A majority of the respondents reported modest or high interest in learning new techniques to personalize their next MOOC offering.

Keywords: massive open online courses (MOOCs), personalization, instructional design, open course, instructors

Interested in learning more? Check out the forthcoming publication.

Bonk, C. J., Zhu, M., Kim, M., Xu, S., Sabir, N., & Sari, A. (in press). Pushing toward a more personalized MOOC: Exploring instructor selected activities, resources, and technologies for MOOC design and implementation. The International Review of Research on Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL).

Abstract adapted from article