Table 1 The Seven Types of Learner Prototypes Discovered by FutureLearn
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Type/Prototype |
Description |
|
|
Work and Study |
Advancers |
People who wish to get additional work-related skills, are aged around 26-35 mostly and more likely to pay for the courses. They have more needs for course products with definite production and relation to work, learning paths that make them experts, timely cutting-edge information in the field, and proficiency certificates. |
|
Explorers |
People who are thinking of making changes in their career or vocation and hope to make initial explorations with online courses. They are mostly aged 26-35 and have weaker willingness than advancers. They need course themes that are relevant to their work or vocation, time to make their own career planning and choices, and a path to higher level courses. |
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|
Preparers |
People who are younger than the previous two groups, usually aged 19-35, and who are making career preparations for the future. Their needs include work-related courses, more interactive learning tools, building confidence via knowledge and skills, and a path to the gradual improvement of high-level courses and learning paths. |
|
|
Personal Life |
Fixers |
People aged 19-75 who understand and manage their individual life issues with online courses, such as their own health or their views of society. They don’t have much interest in certificates. They need relevant courses to be found in the platform when they run into problems, easier access to credible contents and expert advice, and empathy and understanding. |
|
Flourishers |
People who use online course to promote better individual development. They will probably choose courses on how to manage stress or how to increase energy. They need appealing, high-quality videos made by teachers and materials to support mobile learning. |
|
|
Leisure |
Hobbyist |
Mostly retirees aged 56-75 who chose courses to support their individual hobbies. They need multiple types of courses that are not necessarily related to vocational education and chances for better understanding. |
|
Vitalisers |
People who regard learning itself as their interest. They will likely choose courses with a number of different themes. They need a sense of inspiration from learning and the ability to share learning results. |
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II. The attributes of MOOCs’ that serve lifelong learning continue to be reinforced
One of the major objectives of MOOCs’ is to promote lifelong learning and professional development (Yousef et al., 2015). Over the last few years, the attributes of MOOCs that serve lifelong learning have been continuously enhanced, and this has been shown in several areas, such as course design and development, platform design, teaching support, and quality certification. In 2019, Coursera, FutureLearn, and edX have made new attempts in the field of lifelong learning.
1. Highlight capacity orientation in course and platform design
As early as 2017, Coursera CEO Rick Levin pointed out at EMOOCs 2017 that the majority of MOOC learners are not school students but lifelong learners who are already working and hope to pursue professional and personnel career development (Wang et al., 2018). Coursera’s survey on learning results in 2019 has once again reached the same conclusion, that is, that 87% of MOOC participants learn for career development, such as a promotion, a higher salary, or the start of a new career.
Against this background, Coursera has highlighted the orientation of capacity and industry in the design of courses and platforms in recent years, meeting lifelong learners’ needs for specialised development the greatest possible degree. In 2018, Coursera designed the “Skills Graph” function and asked teachers to add a clear ability tag to the course during the design and release. When learners click into the introduction of a course, they will see directly the skills they may obtain from learning it.
On this basis, Coursera updated the release of “Global Skills Index”8 in 2019. This index summarises the capacity ranking of different countries and regions in the three fields of business, science and technology, and data science, and puts forward specific capacity requirements for workers in different trades, such as science and technology, finance, consulting, insurance, manufacturing, and media. For example, the top scientific capacity for workers in finance is data modelling, while the top business skill for workers in scientific technology is design thinking. The role that the release of the “Global Skill Index” plays in serving lifelong learning is as follows. On the one hand, it may design and develop course products and contents which are more compliant with skill development requirements for learners according to skills graphs from the perspective of platform and course developers. On the other hand, learners can choose pertinent courses in accordance with their own field, trade, and skill requirements.