Student Personality Characteristics Differ in MOOCs Versus Blended-Learning University Courses

Introduction

Education in universities around the world is evolving (Allen & Seaman, 2013), and the use of online technology is becoming increasingly popular (e.g., Brinkman, Rae, & Dwivedi, 2007; Ellis, Ginns, & Pigott, 2009; Ellis, Goodyear, O’Hara, & Prosser, 2007; Ginns & Ellisa, 2006; Haapala, 2006; Hay, Peltier, & Drago, 2004; Hawkridge, 1998; MacKenzie & Walsh, 2009; McNaught & Lam, 2005; Woo, Gosper, McNeill, Preston, Green, & Phillips, 2008). In 2004, the United States alone had more than 2.35 million students enrolled in some form of online learning (Kim & Bonk, 2006). At that time, instructors at many post-secondary institutions predicted that by 2013 more than 80% of the student learning experience will consist of some blend of traditional and online learning, i.e., ‘blended learning’ (Kim & Bonk, 2006). The real numbers are not far off: In 2011, approximately 77% of all surveyed institutions offered online courses (Anderson, Boyle, & Rainie, 2012), and in another study, Craig and colleagues (2009) found that when students could choose between watching traditional live versus online lectures, almost 80% of students chose the online lectures.