Needs Analysis of the Meetup Function Design for Massive Open Online Course Learners in Taiwan Wei-Ting Lin, Chao-Hsiu Chen, & Wei-I Lee

Massive open online course, MOOC Complete course includes course videos, syllabus, lecture notes, assignments, reading lists, reading materials, tests, and interaction Open free for registration, watching videos, downloading learning materials Coursera, edX

Massive open online course, MOOC MOOC vs. OCW course vs. courseware certification vs. non-credit collaborative learning vs. self learning A major difference between MOOC & OCW is “interaction”

Interactions in an online environment More interactions can enhance cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence (Moore, Masterson, Christophel, & Shea, 1996). Interactions increase learner satisfaction and learning effectiveness (Swan, 2002).

Interactions in an online environment However, interaction in online learning environments is often restricted by devices and technologies. Commonly used text-based technologies: discussion boards, short message services (SMS), , etc.

Interactions in an online environment Text-based technologies have less media richness than face-to-face conversation (Lan & Sie, 2010). F2F > Telephone > Text-based communication Media richness is a critical factor that influences user satisfaction in online environments (Simon & Peppas, 2004).

Interactions in an online environment From computer-mediated communication to face-to- face: Meetup

Interactions in an online environment Is the Meetup design useful to Taiwan learners?

Method Reviewing relevant research and Coursera Meetup to form a basic design. Analyzing learners’ needs and attitudes toward face-to- face discussion. (Survey: 62 participants) Interviewing 3 online learners and 1 professor who had incorporate OCW materials to his instruction.

Results (b) Is it hard to you to post and describe learning questions on discussion board? (c) Is it hard to you to reply and answer others’ questions on discussion board? (a) 87.1% of the participants prefer face-to-face discussion to computer-mediated communication

Results (e) Willingness of face-to- face discussion with other learners; some learners are your familiar friends (d) Willingness of face-to- face discussion with other learners you don’t familiar

Results (f) Willingness of face-to- face discussion with other learners who are all your familiar friends. Taiwan learners are shy!

Results Interviewees’ suggestions: – Function allows users to set group criteria such as “groups only visible to friends”, “groups only visible to MOOC classmates”, and “groups only visible to learners who had joined the same group(s) with me.” – Learners should be able to remain anonymous if they look for help from someone they don’t know. – Every user has a personal reputation score which gets higher if the user frequently helps others. – History logs.

Scenario 1 A student used his mobile device to learn statistics, and he encountered a problem about ANOVA.

Scenario 2 Several students taking “Introduction to Computer Science” wanted to start a scheduled study group.

Scenario 3 A businessman was waiting for his flight at the airport. He used mobile phone, launched the MOOC-meetup and clicked “Who’s around?” to search other users with the same learning interests.

Conclusion 1.Learners prefer face-to-face discussion to computer- mediated communication. 2.Learners prefer joining a learning group with people they know. 3.Learners prefer setting the criteria to screen group members. 4.The function should include history logs of meet-up groups and participants.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

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