Is there a Scandinavian model for MOOCs?
Cathrine Tømte, Vito Laterza, Rómulo Pinheiro, Aleksandar Avramović
Abstract
Massive online open courses (MOOCs) have developed and spread out at a slower pace than initially predicted (Ng, 2013), and they have developed in conjunction with countries’ distinct education systems and local demands. In this article, the focus is on MOOCs in the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. These societies and their respective national higher education (HE) systems share a multiplicity of characteristics and tend to be seen as models for one another across a variety of policy domains, HE included (Pinheiro et al., 2016). In policy circles, there is a tendency to group the Scandinavian countries together, but we are aware that there are substantial differences between them. With this in mind, we explore whether MOOC offerings in these countries share a set of common features that may or may not provide support for the notion of a shared model. By inquiring whether and to what extent there is a Scandinavian model for MOOCs, our aim is to unpack the dynamics and effects of broader processes of digital transformation in higher education institutions (HEIs) within the case countries. Therefore, we propose the following research questions (RQs):