Table 4.

Participant thoughts about the Coursera Excel Skills for Business: Essentials course

Categories	Examples	Number of references
Thoughts about the Coursera MOOC		2046
Affective Elements	• It was great learning excel through Coursera! • Increased my motivation towards excel • Really learn in a way I can feel confident about my skills in excel something I didn't have before • It is my personal opinion as I sometimes lost interest a bit	448
Design	• The course material is comprehensive and detailed • The weekly assessment also provides a current understanding of one's level at the moment • I liked the format of the course, how it was divided into weeks and how each week had the same structure and how the videos were separated so that I wasn’t watching the all the videos and then doing the other activities. The structure of the course helped me learn • It was very clear what each week would be about and what materials were relevant for which sections • Sometimes the assessment questions didn't match the course taken on that week • Certain assessment questions were not very clear • It would be better if you explain all ribbon briefly first of all and then start the course	363
Learning Outcomes	• I applied this knowledge in practical way. This course taught me the importance of Excel in professional life • Hey before joining the Coursera I didn't know how to use the excel and now I'm expert in the excel • I had 0% knowledge about excel when I first entered into the course. But now I think my skills on this have developed much • But the questions form was a bit difficult for me because I'm not good at English so there were some questions I couldn't understand it	325
Technology	• The platform is easy to use • The user interface of the course was very helpful • I had no technical difficulties using it • Some of the connection has a problem several times and the page came out very slowly	238
Teaching/Pedagogy	• The course instructor is fully prepared in which course was explained in a clear and easy to understand manner • The teaching was highly engaging, lively and top-notched • Particularly loved the instructors for their cheerful and motivating demeanor • If you can be more explicit when teaching and bring in more examples or illustrations it will be very better	163
Behavior	• Flexibility to decide for myself on the subjects I need some more practice or not • Learning Excel skills through Coursera enabled me to complete the tasks at my own pace while keeping me on track by using the deadlines as a guide • No specific interaction with other students for this course • I did not get a chance to interact with other students in the course	84
Institutional Environment	• Am particularly from Kenya and was not in a position to pay for the course but I benefitted from the financial aid • This is the first time I followed an IT course online. Thanks a lot for Coursera providing this valuable course for free for me who has poor economic condition • The only concern that I have is that it is pretty difficult to contact with the tutor of this course. If you have any question you cannot find any help. The forum does not help at all. I do not have any email contact or something like that if I need help • I think Coursera should make it free for the students who are from the third world	45
Presence/Community	• It really connects me and makes me immerse in this learning environment • I don't find there to be any sense of “community” • I do not particularly look forward to being a part of a community when I'm learning something so even though I disagreed to not connecting with students, it's simply because I do not want to • I did not get the questions asking participation being part of a community	21
None/NA		359