International MOOC Trends in Citizenship, Participation and Sustainability: Analysis of Technical, Didactic and Content Dimensions

Abstract

Within globalization and the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), social and civic competence and sustainability take on a relevant role in the international scope. To this end, a theoretical section on citizenship models and the different fingerprints of sustainability is presented. The study is quantitative, with a sample of 161 massive open online courses (MOOCs) from three of the main platforms (Coursera, EdX and MiriadaX) with content on citizenship, citizen participation and/or sustainability. Both data collection and analysis are structured around a system of four categories: Technical dimension, didactic dimension, citizenship and sustainability. An exploratory analysis is carried out, followed by a factorial analysis focused on correlations and reduction of factors that allows us to define a main formative profile of the MOOC in relation to the reference themes. In this way, this research concludes that there is an international trend in MOOCs in citizenship and sustainability, whose predominant training proposals include contents related to the ecological citizenship model, as well as issues such as lack of resources, the need to reduce waste derived from consumption, climate change, or the impact of companies on the local economy and environment.