A MOOC from an Occupational Perspective: How to Use Technology to Promote Participation by People with Disabilities (Preprint)

Abstract

This paper has shown the results derived from the implementation of two editions of a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) that focused on the use and application of technology resources, most of which were free, to promote participation and intervention amongst people with disabilities. That is the only one MOOC focused on providing information to professionals about different tools to promote technology’s participation of people with disabilities. The study provides initial evidence of the rates for a MOOC with blended learning and tips to motivate the participants.

The goals were (a) to describe the profile of person enrolled on a MOOC based on promoting the participation of people with disabilities, and (b) to analyse the behavior and progression of participants in the MOOC and their satisfaction with the educational resources provided.

The MOOC was implemented using the tools of the MIRIADAX platform. This allowed the incorporation of plain text, multimedia resources (self-recording videos), links to complementary information, and an evaluation process. The study design was based on quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data from the two questionnaires and from MIRIADAX were analysed using various statistical methods. As has been noted, the MOOC had two editions.

Both editions had 1440 persons enrolled, but the course was completed by 254 participants in the first edition and 195 in the second one. The rates of completion were high relative to other courses, with 42.83%, and 51.31%. The general participant profile was that of a woman between the ages of 25 and 34, living in Spain, and studying at university. High quality of learning resources, blended learning and weekly challenges to promote participation were the main factors for the success of this MOOC.

Features of an Effective MOOC were identified: Topic of interest, Quality multimedia resources, Complementary documentation, Promotion of student participation, Straightforward ways to evaluate the participants, Duration of the MOOC. The analysis of results and comparison with previous research have enabled some key conclusions to be drawn and considered when designing, editing, and implementing successful MOOCs in the future.