7. Conclusions
This study provides empirical evidence that a learner's current context and role influences their learning in a MOOC. Learners who were working as data professionals and/or studying towards a HE qualification appeared more highly selfregulated, exhibiting significantly higher SRL scores than those learners who were not working as data professionals or studying for a HE qualification. The self-directed, non-linear nature of learning engagement in MOOCs, which requires individuals to determine and structure their learning largely independently, combined with the diverse range of learners MOOCs attract, makes this finding particularly meaningful. The relationship between a learner's context and role and their ability to self-regulate their learning has important implications for the structure and operation of MOOCs. An individual's self-regulation of learning is not static but may vary depending on the learning context. MOOCs operate as non-formal learning activities (Gillani & Eynon, 2014; Gillani, Yasseri, Eynon, & Hjorth, 2014). Whilst incorporating elements of traditional, formal higher education, MOOCs also facilitate flexible learning, requiring individual participants to choose how, when and in what ways they engage. Connecting the learning occurring on MOOCs to ‘real-world’ contexts and the lives of learners could play an important role in supporting learning. The differences in overall perceived ability to self-regulate (measured though SRL scores) between learners from different contexts and roles, combined with the findings from previous studies suggesting the importance of SRL to achievement outcomes (Azevedo & Cromley, 2004; Barnard-Brak, Lan, & Paton, 2010), highlights the need for greater attention to be paid to how MOOCs can better support learners from all backgrounds.
