Who Is Taking MOOCs? Teachers, Says MIT-Harvard Study

This story originally appeared in PBS Newshour. 

A new MIT-Harvard study released on Wednesday finds that nearly 40 percent of learners who take open online courses are teachers. That finding has researchers wondering whether they can better design online courses once predicted to upend students’ experience to meet teachers’ needs.

The study describes two years of open online courses launched on MIT and Harvard’s non-profit online initiative, edX. It explores 68 certificate courses and 1.7 million participants.

“We know who these people are,” said Harvard Associate Professor Andrew Ho, co-author of the study...

Read more.