Initial trends in enrolment and completion of massive open online courses

Jordan, Katy (2014). Initial trends in enrolment and completion of massive open online courses. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 15(1) pp. 133–160.

URL: http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/vie...

Abstract

The past two years have seen rapid development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) with the rise of a number of MOOC platforms. The scale of enrolment and participation in the earliest mainstream MOOC courses has garnered a good deal of media attention. However, data about how the enrolment and completion figures have changed since the early courses is not consistently released. This paper seeks to draw together the data that has found its way into the public domain in order to explore factors affecting enrolment and completion. The average MOOC course is found to enroll around 43,000 students, 6.5% of whom complete the course. Enrolment numbers are decreasing over time and are positively correlated with course length. Completion rates are consistent across time, university rank, and total enrolment, but negatively correlated with course length. This study provides a more detailed view of trends in enrolment and completion than was available previously, and a more accurate view of how the MOOC field is developing.

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About

  • Item ORO ID
  • 39592
  • Item Type
  • Journal Item
  • ISSN
  • 1492-3831
  • Keywords
  • MOOCs; Massive Open Online Courses; online education; distance learning; completion rates; open learning; higher education; e-learning; online learning
  • Academic Unit or School
  • Institute of Educational Technology (IET)
  • Copyright Holders
  • © 2014 Katy Jordan
  • Depositing User
  • Katy Jordan
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)

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