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ABSTRACT
Given the rapid rise of open educational resources (OER) for informal learning pursuits impacting countless millions of people each day around the world, this study investigated the impact of the initiative that spearheaded this movement; namely, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) open courseware (OCW). More specifically, it explored self-directed learners’ perceptions of the impact of the MIT OCW, their social presences and cognitive presences while learning through MIT OCW online instructional videos. The data source of this study was learner comments regarding 23 instructional videos found in YouTube. Thematic analysis and computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) were used for data analysis. The results indicated that the impact of the MIT OCW served as the first step for career development and important educational decisions of myriad learners that served to benefit MIT programmes with future applicants. In addition, YouTube comments of the self-directed learners reflected a relatively lower social presence and higher cognitive presence compared to general social media. Meanwhile, self-directed learners encountered challenges such as technology issues, non-engaging teaching methods, and social learning needs. Perhaps the future OER and OCW development will, in fact, be designed for a more interactive and engaging experience for the self-directed learners of this world.
Acknowledgement
This research was completed as a part of the OER Fellowship honored to the first author by the Open Education Group. We thank Dr. John Hilton III for his support with this research.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Meina Zhu
Meina Zhu is Assistant Professor in the Learning Design and Technology Program in the College of Education at Wayne State University. She received her Ph.D. degree in the Instructional Systems Technology Program at Indiana University Bloomington and her Master’s degree in Educational Technology at Beijing Normal University. Her research interests include online education, open education and MOOCs, self-directed learning, STEM education, and active learning. She can be reached at [email protected].
Dilnoza Kadirova
Dilnoza Kadirova is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Instructional Systems Technology (IST) in the School of Education, at Indiana University (IU). Prior to joining the program she was a Fulbright Scholar and had teaching experience in the field of foreign languages. Her research interest areas are in instructional design, teacher presence and active learning in the online environment, self-directed learning, MOOCs, and Computer Science Education. Contact: Dilnoza Kadirova: Ph.D. student, Associate Instructor, Indiana University, Bloomington, 201 N Rose Ave, Bloomington, IN 47405. Email: [email protected].