Abstract:

With the introduction of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICT), various conducive environments for learning have emerged, surpassing the boundaries of traditional and institutional spaces. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) emerged in the early 2010s, becoming a popular education option for students of various age groups and educational levels. Initially designed as an alternative for those without access to conventional higher education, MOOCs have proven to be an increasingly viable and beneficial option, even for university students (Silva; Lisbôa, 2020). Currently, individuals access cyberspace anytime and anywhere in search of information or services that meet their personal needs for qualification and knowledge. Some people are exploring this new form of distance learning through MOOCs, seeking to acquire knowledge beyond the confines of the classroom and reach a global audience (Silva; Lisbôa, 2020). This study addresses a systematic literature review with the purpose of analyzing the benefits in teaching and learning provided by MOOCs. To conduct the research, databases from CAPES, Google Scholar, Scielo, and repositories of Brazilian and Portuguese universities were used, employing keywords such as MOOC, learning, indicators, MOOC evaluation, MOOC benefits, MOOC in higher education. The inclusion criteria were established as: i) articles in Portuguese; ii) publications in journals, conference proceedings, and books; iii) the period between 2018 and 2022; iv) studies conducted in the context of higher education. Initially, 23 documents were identified. However, after a detailed analysis of the document corpus, only 8 documents were considered relevant. During the reading, emerging categories were identified, covering functionalities, structure, methodologies, and evaluation. Preliminary results indicate that MOOCs have the potential to offer various benefits, such as access to quality content, learning flexibility, opportunities for interaction and collaboration, and the development of specific skills. This mode of education presents great potential for continuous and personalized training in an informal approach. However, some challenges were also identified, such as the need for self-discipline and self-management, lack of face-to-face interaction, and a high dropout rate. These promising results provide relevant insights for future analyses of the benefits of MOOCs in education and learning. To address these challenges, various strategies can be adopted, such as adaptive learning, gamification, among others. These approaches can be implemented to enhance the quality of MOOCs.

Keywords:

MOOC, teaching and learning, benefits, challenges.