Man In India, 97 (24-II) : 93-101 © Serials Publications
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Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, E-mail: yuenfook@uitm.edu.my
STUDENTS’ READINESS AND COMPETENCE IN MOOCS IN
HIGHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY
Chan Yuen Fook
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, Asmahan Abd Razak
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, Nurul Fitriah Alias
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and
Suthagar Narasuman
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Higher learning institutions are moving rapidly to reach out to universal learners by offering open
education for all. In keeping with this global effort, Malaysia is committed to provide a holistic
open access education that enables learners to access knowledge through internet facilities and
will soon be the first country in the world to develop a national policy on credit recognition for
the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform. On that note, students must be ready and
competent for this new form of education. However, very few studies have been conducted in
relation to students’ readiness and competence in utilizing of MOOCS. Hence, a descriptive-
correlational research was employed to investigate students’ readiness and competence in using
MOOCs in higher education. A total of 26 students participated in this case study. The findings
revealed that students’ readiness and competence in using MOOCs was still at a moderate level.
However, the study also revealed a positive, moderate and significant relationship between students’
readiness and competence in using MOOCs. The findings indicated that awareness towards MOOCs
among students in higher education institutions has to be further improved for the realization of
Shift 9 of the “Globalised Online Learning” endeavour as outlined in the Malaysian Education
Blueprint (Higher Education) 2015-2025.
Keywords: Students, Readiness, Competence, MOOCs, Higher education
I. INTRODUCTION
Instructional methods have evolved tremendously from attending classroom
learning within the campus to online learning of out-campus in the early 21st century
(Cole & Timmerman, 2015). The introduction of the concept of distance learning
into our teaching systems is remarkable. Distance learning, sometimes called
e-learning, is a formalized teaching and learning system specifically designed to
be carried out remotely by using electronic communication. It is less expensive to
support and is not constrained by geographic considerations as well as offers
opportunities in situations where traditional education has difficulty operating.
Students with scheduling or distance problems can benefit from distance education
due to more flexible learning in terms of time and method. Advances in technology
have made it possible to deliver education in an innovative manner. Based on this
development, online learning or popularly known as e-learning has become a trend
for long distance students, especially with the support of technology advancement.
Nevertheless, long distance online learning requires expensive technology has its
restrictions in reaching global participation. Thus, education institutions are looking
for a new platform for online learning that can offer unlimited participation of