Communicative Spaces in MOOCs and Swedish Study Circles

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have become a common feature in higher education. The idea of opening up education for a wider population has been welcomed by many. How these new learning environments correspond to the requirements of individual learning is an issue of vital importance. In this paper, we will examine the MOOC phenomenon with the theoretical lense of Habermas influenced communicative space and compare the MOOC environment with that of Swedish Study Circles. Our examination suggests that the strong democratic and collaborative tradition of study circles might provide MOOC designers with a model that can help scaffolding MOOC education in ways beneficial to individual learners.