Big course small talk: twitter and MOOCs - a systematic review of research designs 2011-2017

Although research on the use of Twitter in support of learning and teaching has become an established field of study the role of Twitter in the context of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has not yet been adequately considered and specifically in the literature. Accordingly, this paper addresses a number of gaps in the scholarly interface between Twitter and MOOCs by undertaking a comprehensive mapping of the current literature. In so doing the paper examines research design through: data collection and analysis techniques; scope and scale of existing studies; and theoretical approaches and underpinnings in the empirical research published between 2011 and 2017. Findings serve to demonstrate the diversity of this line of research, particularly in scale and scope of studies and in the approaches taken. By mapping the research using a systematic review methodology it is shown that there is a lack of qualitative data on how Twitter is used by learners and teachers in MOOCs. Moreover, a number of methodological gaps exist in published quantitative survey research at the interface between Twitter and MOOCs, including issues in the trustworthy reporting of results and full consideration of tweet and tweet meta-data collection. At the same time the paper highlights areas of methodological "best practice" in the research around these issues and in other important areas such as large-scale hashtag analyses of the use of Twitter in MOOCs. In reviewing the literature the findings aim to strengthen the methodological foundation of future work and help shape a stronger research agenda in this emerging area.