MOOCs inside Universities - An Analysis of MOOC Discourse as Represented in HE Magazines

Digital news media discourse on MOOCs has been pervasive in educational publications over recent years, and has often focused on debates over the disruptive potential of MOOCs at one extreme, and their survival at the other. Whether such articles reflect the concerns of academics and other internal university stakeholders is difficult to ascertain. This paper aims to determine the main concerns of internal university stakeholders in terms of their MOOC development and implementation work, and whether these concerns are reflected in the mainstream educational media. The study combines data from 2 previous studies (a content analysis of MOOC literature, and a grounded theory case study of internal university stakeholders) to establish key themes of concern for those working on MOOCs in Higher Education. An analysis of these themes in 3 educational media publications is then conducted for the year 2014. The findings indicate a clear focus in education media and among university stakeholders on new teaching practices and working dynamics in Higher Education as a result of involvement in MOOC development work. We argue that for many working on MOOCs in Higher Education, the debate about the future of MOOCs is over, and that more practical concerns of appropriate implementation and effective working practices are of greater importance.