A Macro-Scale MOOC Analysis of the Socioeconomic Status of Learners and Their Learning Outcomes

Abstract

The digitalization of education has been continuously growing and deeply transforming some of the core practices across all teaching and learning levels. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic had an accelerating effect on this process. In this sense, one of the most disruptive media over the last decade to democratize digital education has been massive open online courses (MOOCs). However, previous studies have found access and achievement gaps concerning the socioeconomic status of the country. This chapter aims to conduct a large-scale study on the relationship between Human Development Index (HDI) and access, completion, and certification by analyzing data from 8 million learners across 12 MOOC providers. The findings of this chapter will offer timely perspectives, particularly on which of the previous trends are universal and context-dependent toward future inclusive design practices. In an era where online education is enabled and formalized, this chapter calls for further educational research and governmental actions dedicated to delivering inclusive online learning experiences.