Are MOOCs impacting on-campus students? Jul. 2014 | Page 44

6. MEANING AND IMPLICATIONS
The questions under investigation were:
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How have MOOCs affected education on campus?

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What impact has this had on the student experience?

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What has changed for academics using MOOCs with their students?

This study was intended to be a window into the new phenomenon of MOOCs and
in all of the case studies provided here there has clearly been an educational effect.
Despite this, it should be acknowledged that this investigation is very small scale
and can only provide a snapshot into the activity of MOOCs for on campus
education in a limited environment.
All of the academics are enthused about their teaching and the ability to apply active
teaching styles through the use of the MOOC platform. An appreciation of learning
outcomes seems to have taken place, along with course redesign and teaching
online. For these academics, their experiences of connecting their classes with a
MOOC (or MOOCs in Fishers case) has been a rewarding experience. By all
accounts they have become active teachers and are engaging with their students by
using online teaching tools and techniques. There is still very little research to
compare these findings to. There was recently an article about San Jose State
University, and their collaboration with Udacity showing positive results of success
for their on campus students. However, the same institution has now withdrawn
their support for MOOCs due to low success rates of their MOOC learners (Wired
Academic, 2013). Research is being undertaken with Edx, funded by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, where much larger scale experiments are taking place
to determine how course materials might be used effectively in a blended learning
context (Coughlan, 2012).
But what is apparent is that there is a much more engaged audience, both for the
students and for the academics. There is a sense of community, which enthuses
those involved. This is consistent with current literature on active and collaborative
learning that suggests that learners have a much deeper form of learning this way
(Smith, Sheppard, Johnson, & Johnson, 2005).

MSc Digital Education

University of Edinburgh, 2014

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