TLC for MOOCs: Teaching and Learning Communities for Computer Programming

Introduction

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer digitized courses for the masses. MOOCs are still highly popular as indicated by the number of people who register for them (Schulze, Leigh, Sparks, & Spinello, 2017). However, less than 5% of people who register, complete the MOOC course (Dillahunt, Wang, & Teasley, 2014; Evans & Baker, 2016; Rai & Chunrao, 2016). From the education field, for-profit companies, like Coursera and Udacity, who offer MOOCs, at times in partnerships with universities, are looking at ways to disrupt the global education industry (Verger, Lubienski & Steiner-Khamsi, 2016). EdX, founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard, in partnership with 90 universities and schools, according to their own press release, grew from 81 million total global enrollments in 2019, to over 110 million global enrollments in 2020, a record 29 million increase (Shah, 2020). Udemy claims to offer more than 50,000 online courses on its platform, where professors and instructors can design and offer courses at a rate of their own choosing (Epelboin, 2017; Gaebel, 2014; Täuscher & Kietzmann, 2017). Some claim that workers are increasingly adopting MOOCs as a route to further their professional development and skill set (Milligan & Littlejohn, 2017; Yuan, Powell & Cetis, 2013; Savino, 2014). Commercial departments engaging with learning and development in workplaces across the world are increasingly incorporating digital learning to provide on-demand, ongoing, and self-directed learning that is aligned to the needs of a rapidly changing workforce, often at lower costs compared to the conventional face-to-face delivery models (Wildi-Yune and Cordero, 2015; Deloitte: Pelster, Haims, Stempel & Vyver, 2016).

Using Gartner’s hype cycle of emerging technologies, a methodology that postulates how technology will evolve within their context of an industry and business goal (Flenn & Blosch, 2018; LeHong, Fenn, & Leeb-du Toit, 2013), the verdict seems to still be out on whether it has hit its peak or levelled off at the trough of disillusionment. EPICC, a technology training organization, was invited amongst 20 others to participate in a sponsored participation of MOOCs on computer scripting and programming. The invitation stemmed from various technology companies and the Obama administration to address the dearth of computer programming talent. Each of the participating organizations worked on their own as they approached the opportunity and challenges of having their young talent participate in a forum that sees massive attrition. Gomez Galan et al. (2019) argued that even though we may not perfectly predict what MOOCs would be like in future universities, we know that the concept of MOOCS will “remain in the panorama of higher education” (p.105).