Alumni & Tenured Participants in MOOCs: Analysis of Two Years of MOOC Discussion Channel Activity

Abstract

This study investigates chat room data from a massive open online course (MOOC) that has been organized several times since January 2012. What makes the organization unique is that the chat room has always remained the same, allowing past participants to mingle with the new course takers. Participants who have previously attended the course have started to support the novices, voluntarily taking the role of mentors, while at the same time also learning themselves. Two and a half years of chat logs and interviews show that it is possible that a community consisting of previous and current participants emerges naturally. Furthermore, there are plenty of students that unconditionally help others, even when they themselves no longer attend the course. Our observations suggest that communities of practice emerge naturally around the chat rooms of MOOCs.