This paper aims at understanding MOOC learners' activity patterns, taking into account factors like personal schedule, traditional working hours, do-mestic time, nighttime and their relation with MOOC course opening hours, live sessions, essay submission deadlines... Are MOOC learners adopting nonstandard learning schedules? Does the MOOC schedule determine the connection patterns of the learners? Four search topics and findings emerge from our research A/ Observations related to the density of learning activity B/ A weekly typology of learning days, C/ Attraction for a “live” contact point, D/ The “21:00 effect”. Finally, we suggest a series of best practices for MOOC design.

1. Toward a typology of MOOC
activity patterns
Learners who never rest?
Rémi Bachelet, Rawad Chaker
Download this slideshow : https://goo.gl/PbRMxH
May 23rd, 2017, Madrid, Spain
Read the full paper : https://goo.gl/QCnGmI

2. MOOC learners' activity patterns
• Factors:
– personal schedule,
– traditional working hours,
– domestic time,
– nighttime
– relation with MOOC course opening hours
– live sessions
– essay submission deadlines
• Does the MOOC schedule determine the connection
patterns of the learners?
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3. Questions & data
Research questions:
1. how do MOOC learners manage their connection schedules?
2. Does the MOOC determine the connection rhythm of the learners,
or is it their personal and professional rhythm?
MOOC scheduling : 2 best practices for MOOC design
Data set : 4 sessions
• MOOC GdP 5, 6, 7 8 march 2015 - October 2016
• Active : 4,842 - 7,537 - 5,951 - 7,998
• Aggregated server stats (google analytics).
• Live Q&A Youtube Analytics 3

4. 4
Normalized hourly and weekly connection patterns
Study #1: Weekly connection patterns are regular and stable

5. 5
Platform connections per hour on daytime, evening and night slots
Study #2: Daytime, evening and night hours work: higher density for
evening time

6. Study #3: Four types of daily patterns
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Five typical weekdays:
1. Launch days: each weekly module opens Monday at 12:00
2. Weekdays+Saturdays: “normal” week day with no live “Q&A”
3. Live days: live “Q&A” session is held on the evening of that day
4. Sundays: essay submission is due Sunday midnight week 1-3

7. Study #4: the "9 p.m. effect"
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Longitudinal connection density: the 9 p.m. peak

8. Conclusions and recommendations
• Learning : double density on evenings
– 4 types of days, w/specific hourly pattern: 1/ Launch days; 2/ Live
days; 3/ Weekdays and Saturdays; 4/ Essay submission days
• Youtube live and deferred views
– Two populations (“hardcore” and “standard”) exhibit a specific
mode of attrition. Recurring “live” contact point has a lasting
attraction on some hardcore learners
• "9 p.m. effect": there is a recurring peak of activity every
day but Saturdays.
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9. Two best practices for MOOC design:
1.Understand the importance and role of weekly
live sessions in creating and maintaining hardcore
learners.
2.Preferential timeslot: 9 p.m. - 10 p.m. best
timeslot to set up events and work.
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10. Thanks for listening!
• Twitter : @R_Bachelet, @chaker_r
• Googleplus : +Rémi Bachelet
Read the full paper : https://goo.gl/QCnGmI