A pedagogically-informed model of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) for Mauritian higher education

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine how MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) can be introduced and implemented in Higher Education institutions in Mauritius. The study explored the perspectives of students, teachers and educational leaders using an exploratory case study approach, and involved the implementation of short MOOC-based courses in three areas of higher education in Mauritius. While much of the existing literature on MOOCs has used quantitative data to explore patterns of enrolment and retention, this study explicitly focused on student experience, and used Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s (2000) Community of Inquiry (COI) model to explore patterns of ‘presence’ and pedagogical preferences and needs of learners. In order to explore how these preferences, together with other contextual factors might affect the adoption of MOOCs in Mauritius, Venkatesh and Davis’s (2000) Technology Acceptance Model2 (TAM2) was used. The COI and TAM2 models were used both as analytical frameworks, but also to develop a new composite model that also can function as a boundary object (Bowker and Star, 1999; Fox, 2011) enabling different stakeholders to understand each other’s needs and expectations and communicate better with each other. For Mauritian learners, teaching presence in online environments is of critical importance: this is reflected in different scenarios of MOOC implementation identified, and in a proposed staged model for MOOC adoption across the HE sector in Mauritius. This involves further pilots and preliminary research (stage 1), integration of MOOCs into practice (stage 2), customisation and development of MOOCs (stage 3) and a MOOC for Mauritius (stage 4), with each stage informing the implementation of subsequent stages as part of a broad action research framework. The original contributions made by the research to the knowledge base of its possible audiences include: providing models of practice for teachers and educational leaders; informing the educational leaders and policy makers about how MOOCs can be successfully implemented in Mauritius; providing detailed case studies on MOOCs to the academic audience interested in MOOCs specifically; and proposing a new composite, pedagogically-informed, technology acceptance model to those academics who are interested in online pedagogy and technology acceptance. The results of this PhD research can also inform the introduction and effective implementation of MOOCs in other less-economically developed countries.