Invisible Practices in Massive Open Online Courses

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-15 - Online Teaching and Learning SIG Roundtable Session 3

Abstract

We report a number of “invisible practices” pertaining to day-to-day participation in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). We define “invisible practices” as practices that are not captured in the log data of the digital platform, and may thus go undetected and unaccounted for, especially when empirical investigations of MOOCs almost exclusively use quantitative and observational data to describe learner behaviors and practices. These practices are “invisible” in a number of ways. Some of these practices are digital, but occur in platforms other than the ones on which MOOCs are taught (e.g., support groups on social networking sites). Other practices are not digital (e.g., taking notes on paper), and others are part of the learners’ personal world (e.g., motherhood shaping participation).

Authors

• George Veletsianos, Royal Roads University

• Amy Collier, Stanford University

• Emily Schneider, Stanford University