Abstract

With more students taking online courses and with the growing popularity of massive open online courses (MOOCs), it is important to examine whether the technical support students are provided with addresses their needs. Because students have a variety of academic and technical backgrounds, one type of support does not fit all. However, with thousands of students in a course, it is impossible to provide personal support for everyone. This mixed study examines different types of support available in large online and MOOC courses, in particular, the various types of technical support given in a MOOC, which also includes a large metaverse component (massive open online virtual environment: MOOVE). The various types of support available were examined and assessed according to their effectiveness and popularity. The choice of support was correlated with age as well as personality and personal preferences. The participants were 142 undergraduate and graduate students from various institutions of higher education who were currently participating in a MOOVE course. The results of the study show that there is an age factor for the use of some of the support features. Moreover, some features, namely, short video explanations and peer support, are considered more important than others by most participants. This study was carried out on one MOOVE course in one country, and similar research needs to be carried out on complex MOOC courses with other populations to validate the results.