Understanding How Participants Use Open Online Courses for Transitions.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are created with a broad audience and learning purpose in mind, and informal feedback has shown that they have been used by people making transitions. From the twelve MOOCs we created, we have seen cases of how participants valued the learning that is very different to a traditional formal education trajectory. Understanding and supporting transition pathways - in and out of learning and work - is increasingly important for universities aiming to, for example support working adults in ongoing professional development. Our research explores experiences of participants from African countries taking MOOCs offered by the University of Cape Town (UCT). In 2017, a pilot survey and interviews were conducted of people taking three UCT MOOCs. The interviews were conducted with a sample of learners living in Africa. We categorised the kinds of value participants report from taking open online courses, and consider how our categorisation relates to how transitions are often framed. Current framings of transitions in the research literature has emphasised school leaving youth entering higher education, while our interest is probing the needs of adults looking for flexible online learning opportunities. From the pilot interviews, we see innovative uses of open online courses for making life changes - such as preparing for postgraduate study, changing field within the workplace and discipline crossing to studying in new fields. Framing of transitions helps illuminate how these participants value open online courses for their own personal and professional development, to acquire skills and knowledge and to support their pathways in and out of learning and work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]