Learning from MOOCs: lessons for the future

In addition to stimulating a valuable worldwide debate about online learning in HE (higher education), MOOCs (massive open online courses) have also triggered a large amount of very active educational and technological research. This research is helping to inform further developments in the design and delivery of MOOCs themselves, but, importantly, is also providing insights into learning in more traditional HE settings where the use of technology is now commonplace. In this chapter, I review some of the research approaches to studying MOOCs and some of the findings from this research where broad agreement exists. Then I look to future opportunities in research and also in how MOOCs, and open education more generally, might align with a vision for digital education in universities in the 21st Century.