Participatory Role of Moderators in Discussion Forum participation in Learner-Centric MOOCs

Abstract

This paper provides insights into participants’ behaviour in a Learner-Centric MOOC (LCM) titled ‘Digital Transformation in Teaching Learning Process’ that was conducted by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and offered under the aegis of Technical Education Quality Improvement Program Phase-III, a project by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.This study reports that the application of the LCM model has shown positive results regarding the active participation in the Discussion Forum (DF). Majority of surveyed participants have acknowledged the positive impact of the DF on their learning. Interventions implemented by the authors provided support to the Discussion Forum Moderators for enhancing participant engagement. The participation in Learner eXperience Interactions was reported with ~83% completing the corresponding graded quizzes. Further research is needed to ascertain correlation between DF and impact in the graded activities.