MOOC awareness and utilization among students of selected Polish universities

Abstract Purpose The main aim of the article was to examine Polish students’ awareness about MOOCs. For this purpose, the following issues were examined: the percentage of students aware of the existence of free courses, the percentage of students who have used the courses, the most popular educational platforms among Polish students, the percentage of people who did not complete a course, and the reasons for failure. Students who had completed any MOOC were also asked about their experiences and the usefulness of the course. Methodology The study was conducted in October/November 2022 in the form of an online survey. The generated link to the survey was sent by e-mail to students of the Jagiellonian University, the College of Engineering and Health in Warsaw and the Gdańsk College of Health, with a request to complete. Findings The results obtained may be surprising, especially after looking at the situation of MOOCs in other parts of the world. The knowledge about the availability of MOOC courses among Polish students is very low. Only 61 people of all respondents knew beforehand that MOOC learning was a possibility. Originality The added value of the article is examination of the motivation of students to take a MOOC course, as well as the reasons for not completing the course or not participating in it. The conclusions of the survey may be useful for designers of MOOCs. They set out some good practices in remote education and ways to keep young people interested.