The Analysis of Faculty Members' Attitudes Towards the Development and Use of Mass Open Online Courses in Higher Education

The thesis presents the results of the faculty's attitudes towards one of the mostly discussed educational technologies which is massive open online courses (MOOC). Authors highlight that even though faculty is one of the MOOC stakeholders, it is their position regarding MOOCs that is being underrepresented. We believe that discussion of faculty's attitude towards MOOCs should not be done for the sake of it, but as an evidence of faculty's agency in a university at the time of change. That is a crucial topic, as agency shows how ready and capable the person is to take an active part in transformational process at one's organization. The research material subjected to a thematic analysis is a collection of statements on advantages and pitfalls of MOOCs, that faculty members taking part at a retraining program generated. The research shows that instructors see MOOC advantages in the opportunity to provide better organization of the learning process and learning materials, higher education accessibility and academic mobility, realization of instructors’ career and personal goals, and resource efficiency. MOOC pitfalls are associated by the participants with pedagogical imperfections of the format, special requirements for the education system, resource intensity, and career risks for instructors. These advantages and pitfalls are disucssed from the point of faculty's values, and provide a foundation for suggested recommendations for university managers that are aimed at supporting and enhancing faculty's agency.