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Assistant professor Jessica Gall Myrick is author of “How MOOC Instructors View the Pedagogy and Purposes of Massive Open Online Courses,” accepted for publication in the journal Distance Education.

MOOCs, or massive open online courses, have proliferated in recent years despite disagreement about the role of MOOCs in higher education and whether student outcomes are satisfactory. Taking a mixed-methods approach and based on a diffusion of innovations perspective, this study reports the results of a survey and interviews with professors who have taught MOOCs.

Findings include:

• Faculty recognized the pedagogical difficulties of MOOCs but overall did support the courses and were positive about the teaching experience. In their critiques, however, was a cautionary note for universities adopting MOOCs later on the diffusion of innovations curve. The current study captured the views of professors who were innovators or early adopters; they were inclined to try an untested technology, and many had strong institutional support from an elite, research-oriented university.
• Professors believed the courses served both democratic and luxury purposes: that is, they were for underserved students excluded from top universities for economic or geographic reasons and for professional post-graduates who are sophisticated self-starters able to thrive through online learning.

Co-author is Suzannah Evans, MA’07, now a doctoral student at University of North Carolina.