New cultures in education: MOOCs in Spanish universities / Nuevas culturas educativas: los MOOCs en las universidades españolas

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyse the characteristics of the MOOC courses which have recently been introduced in Spanish universities, by focusing on a MOOC course titled Skills and Competences through Coaching, developed on the MiriadaX platform by the University of Cantabria. For the purpose, a quantitative descriptive study was carried out. A total of 16,980 students were enrolled on the course, primarily from Spain and Latin America. The average student profile was female, 34 years old, with university studies, who was in employment and had been recommended the course due to its usefulness for her line of work. The completion rate was 46.65%. We can conclude that the course has been a success in relation to other national and international MOOCs, if we look at drop-out and participation rates, as a result of the current interest in the subject (coaching), the style of cooperative learning, the use of new technologies, and new teaching methodologies based on e-learning.