Towards real-time analytics in MOOCs

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) collect essentially complete records of all student interactions in a self-contained learning environment, with the benefit of large sample sizes. Building on our data mining of the first course in MITx (now edX) we demonstrate ways to analyze data to illustrate important issues in the course: how to distinguish browsers from certificate-earners, which resources were accessed the most and how much time was allocated by certificate-earners. Each topic is addressed via appropriate displays that, in future courses, can be updated in real time. Furthermore, we stress that analytics can provide useful information to teachers, to resource creators (authors), and to members of organizations trying to improve their MOOCs.