The Higher Education Academy in the UK has released a research report that explores MOOC learners’ engagement in learning. Learners from two MOOCs, designed and run by the University of Southampton, were asked about their experience and engagement in the MOOC. Research was done using a specially adapted version of the UK Engagement Survey, an undergraduate survey that focuses on student engagement. Findings showed that learners felt “engaged in intellectual endeavours such as forming new understandings, making connections with previous knowledge and experience, and exploring knowledge actively, creatively and critically.” The report states that MOOCs have the potential to attract diverse groups of learners and connect inter-generational and international networks; however, in order to widen access, they argue that the reach of MOOCs needs to extend to underrepresented students, such as people from different ethnic backgrounds or lower socio-economic groups.
https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/resources/engaged-learning-in-moocs.pdf