The State of Flow and Instructional Methods as Consumer Drivers in E-Learning

Many universities today actively integrate Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) into their curriculum. Designing the techniques of instruction that foster e-learners’ intention to continue using the MOOC platform is crucial to build and maintain effective and profitable online education platform. Academic research pays considerable attention to the attributes of the flow state in e-learning, as it can significantly increase e-learners’ satisfaction. The current study examines online learning experience of 245 students from HSE, Russia to depict the influence of instructional techniques on the e-learners’ flow state. The research relies on a mixed method design, combining qualitative content analysis and students’ self-report survey. Content analysis of 62 lecture videos has been conducted to identify the instructional methods used in an online course. The flow state was measured among the students through an online self-report questionnaire after they watched weekly lecture videos of the course. The study results indicate a wide variety of instructional methods, theoretically grounded to reduce MOOC consumers’ intention to attrite. Finally, the research argues that abundant expositive methods in MOOC can restrain the flow state among e-learners.