Opinion of Computer Science Instructors and Students on MOOCs in an Indian University

Abstract

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have lately emerged as an effective form of distance education. Computer science is one of those disciplines in which MOOCs are quite common. We conducted a survey to know the opinion of computer science instructors and undergraduate students on MOOCs in an Indian university in March 2018. Of the 26 instructors and 273 students who participated, 73% instructors and 87% students reported to have attended MOOCs. We found that 50% instructors and 72% students considered MOOCs to be a more comprehensive source of knowledge and 54% instructors and 76% students felt that MOOCs let students learn faster when compared to courses taught in a classroom. Moreover, 58% instructors believed that the courses they teach in classrooms can also be taught effectively through MOOCs. The instructors and students appreciated several aspects of MOOCs. However, the students had an opinion that MOOCs can augment classroom teaching but cannot replace it. MOOCs on computer programming (22%), artificial intelligence (9%), and computer networking (8%) were found to be particularly popular among the students.