Learners’ perspectives on interaction in a language MOOC

Abstract

This study examines how 136 language learners interacted with other learners in and out of a Language MOOC on English presentation. it also investigates the learner-reported reasons that encourage them to interact, and that prevent them from interacting with other learners. The results demonstrate that the level of learner-learner interaction was quite low in the LMOOC overall. More active learners cited a sense of belonging to the group and confidence in their English ability as the reasons for interacting with others, and less active learners reported a preference for F2F (face-to-face) interaction, lack of time and lack of English proficiency as factors preventing them from doing so. Learners also reported frequent use of personal communication tools to interact with other learners outside of the LMOOC. We conclude with a number of suggestions and implications for future LMOOC design, implementation and research.

An Observation Protocol for Scaffolding Community of Inquiry and Its Exemplary Practices in Language MOOCs

“…In the dimension of social presence, although the authors have provided some exemplary practices, it is noteworthy that raters still expressed relatively moderate to low levels of social presence in the observed courses, which is consistent with previous findings that interaction was perceived as hard to achieve through LMOOCs (Barcena et al, 2015;Chong et al, 2022;Jitpaisarnwattana et al, 2021a;Jitpaisarnwattana et al, 2022c;Wright & Furneaux, 2021). This points to a need to create more innovative, or even intelligent communicative tools to aid class interaction and increase the sense of familiarity among learners (Lebedeva, 2021).…”

“…They also proposed to develop more intelligent systems that can moderate and personalize discussion activities. Another approach would be to encourage a frequent use of personal communication tools to interact with peers outside the LMOOC (Jitpaisarnwattana et al, 2021a), or even allow the link of one's social media account with their MOOC account (Uchidiuno et al, 2018).…”

Mining and visualizing large-scale course reviews of LMOOCs learners through structural topic model

“…Our findings also revealed different important topics of teaching methods, learner improvement, and experience. For teaching methods, teachers need to shift from a traditional classroom mindset and embrace an online social one [ 11 ] by implementing innovative teaching techniques. And a salient factor related to speech style, native-like pronunciation, and appropriate speaking pace can significantly impact learners’ motivation and engagement, which was consistent with Peng and Jiang’s finding.…”

“…The first notable initiative in the study of LMOOCs learners is the exploration of participants’ motivation [ 6 ]. Later publications include self-directed learning or autonomy [ 7 ], the role of self-efficacy [ 8 , 9 ], engagement and participation [ 10 ], interaction [ 11 ], beliefs and attitudes [ 9 , 12 ], their perceived effectiveness [ 13 ], and multiple affordances [ 14 ]. These studies have provided valuable insights into different aspects of learners in LMOOCs, which can be used by instructors to better design and deliver high-quality courses, and help create effective online learning process and learner experience.…”

Teaching Russian as a foreign language during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…A distinctive feature of the offered LMOOCs is their modular organization making it possible to systematize educational materials. Jitpaisarnwattana, Reinders, and Darasawang (2021) argue that all LMOOCs can be divided into two main types: xMOOC and cMOOC. While the first type implies short videos with closed tasks and comprehension tests, the second one is more flexible and creates opportunities for customized learning based on interaction between students and teacher-student interaction.…”