A descriptive statistical analysis of the profiles of massive open online course users and non-users in India

The current paper presents our research regarding differences between massive open online course (MOOC) users and non-users. Extant literature, mostly in the Western and also Chinese contexts, has evidence regarding the demographic profiles of MOOC users. Limiting our research to the Indian context, we attempted to study MOOC-users and non-users using self-reported survey data. Our descriptive analysis allowed us to characterise the user base at micro-level and to find significant differences between users and non-users - among other things, age, education, general online efficacy, communicative online efficacy and self-directed learning preference emerge as significant distinguishers. These findings are on expected lines and in practical terms highlight some of the learner-level characteristics and capabilities that facilitate adoption of online learning through MOOCs in a developing country like India.