Cartography of Controversies about MOOCs

Massively open online courses (MOOCs) are one of most recent educational technology development that have become a highly debated issue, polarized among proponents, boosters, skeptics, and resistants. To understand the nature of such evolving technology concepts, the typical methods and techniques in current literature result in the production of systematic literature reviews, case studies, and theoretical or conceptual frameworks. This work-in-progress paper explores the controversies about MOOCs by adopting the recently developed method “cartography of controversies” from the science and technology studies (STS) discipline. The method guides the application of actor network theory (ANT). Online digital media and tools (namely, Scopus, ScienceScape, Google trends, OpenHeatMap, NodeXL, Gephi, Facebook, Twitter) are used for data collection and analysis. The study uses both qualitative and quantitative tools and techniques to highlight the statements, literatures, actors, cosmoses or general concepts involved in the controversy. The paper propounds the adoption of the method in the field of education and educational technology and proposes through demonstration in this article that such investigations can be reported as a genre of the scholarly article.