%0	Journal Article
%A	Jordan, Katy
%D	2014
%J	International  Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning
%K	social network analysis
%K	open education
%K	MOOC
%K	
%K	curricula
%P	38-41
%T	Exploring co-studied Massive Open Online Course subjects via social network analysis
%U	http://dx.doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v9i8.3581
%V	9
%X	Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) allow students to study online courses without requiring previous experience or qualifications. This offers students the freedom to study a wide variety of topics, freed from the curriculum of a degree programme for example; however, it also poses a challenge for students in terms of making connections between individual courses. This paper examines the subjects which students at one MOOC platform (Coursera) choose to study. It uses a social network analysis based approach to create a network graph of co-studied subjects. The resulting network demonstrates a good deal of overlap between different disciplinary areas. Communities are identified within the graph and characterised. The results suggests that MOOC students may not be seeking to replicate degree-style courses in one specialist area, which may have implications for the future moves toward ‘MOOCs for credit’.
%8	06/2014
%9	Short paper
%@	1863-0383
%*	yes