TY  - JOUR
AU  - Claflin, Suzi B
AU  - Campbell, Julie A
AU  - Doherty, Kathleen
AU  - Farrow, Maree
AU  - Bessing, Barnabas
AU  - Taylor, Bruce V
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/12/7
TI  - Evaluating Course Completion, Appropriateness, and Burden in the Understanding Multiple Sclerosis Massive Open Online Course: Cohort Study
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e21681
VL  - 23
IS  - 12
KW  - multiple sclerosis
KW  - massive open online course
KW  - health promotion
KW  - eHealth education
KW  - mobile phone
AB  - Background: Massive open online course (MOOC) research is an emerging field; to date, most research in this area has focused on participant engagement. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate both participant engagement and measures of satisfaction, appropriateness, and burden for a MOOC entitled Understanding Multiple Sclerosis (MS) among a cohort of 3518 international course participants. Methods: We assessed the association of key outcomes with participant education level, MS status, caregiver status, sex, and age using summary statistics, and 2-tailed t tests, and chi-square tests. Results: Of the 3518 study participants, 928 (26.37%) were people living with MS. Among the 2590 participants not living with MS, 862 (33.28%) identified as formal or informal caregivers. Our key findings were as follows: the course completion rate among study participants was 67.17% (2363/3518); the course was well received, with 96.97% (1502/1549) of participants satisfied, with an appropriate pitch and low burden (a mean of 2.2 hours engagement per week); people living with MS were less likely than those not living with MS to complete the course; and people with a recent diagnosis of MS, caregivers, and participants without a university education were more likely to apply the material by course completion. Conclusions: The Understanding MS MOOC is fit for purpose; it presents information in a way that is readily understood by course participants and is applicable in their lives. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2021/12/e21681
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/21681
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34878985
DO  - 10.2196/21681
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/21681
ER  -