Accompagnement à l’autonomie d’apprentissage dans les cours en ligne offerts aux masses :

Abstract

This paper presents a case-study which was conducted in a MOOC setting (delivered in French) dealing with sustainable development. This study was empirically and interpretatively performed and drawn up on the basis of the traces left by the MOOC participants on dedicated forums associated with so-called "participatory tasks". Data analysis was structured according to three main dimensions, i.e. sequentiality and turn taking, technical configurations and linguistic resources. This study allowed to delineate several profiles of participants – depending on their types of contributions, actions, types of feedback, intentions and reactions vis-à-vis the other participants – and led to bring the notion of "participant behaviour/action" to the fore. The results of this exploratory study may prove useful to better fathom the MOOC participants’ participation strategies and, in return, to make recommandations regarding the development of learner autonomy.

Keywords

• MOOC
• participatory tasks
• participant behaviour/action
• discussion forum
• accountability for results