In recent years, there has been an increased implementation of massive open online courses (MOOCs). This teaching model plays a pivotal role in online education because it can provide high-quality learning resources to numerous students with great feasibility, shaping training courses according to their different learning requirements. Although the widespread adoption of MOOCs in medical education has led to numerous benefits for undergraduate and graduate doctors, their role remains unclear, suggesting the need to analyze the key factors of such a learning method in this field. To achieve this aim, a scoping review, in line with the PRISMA method for qualitative synthesis, was performed by considering studies published from 2016 to 2021, written in English, and including the physician population. Through this literature analysis, the following main areas of interest came to light: (1) pedagogical approaches, (2) MOOC structure-related variables, (3) participant-related variables, and (4) MOOCs vs. traditional courses. The review provides valuable evidence on factors underlying MOOCs effectiveness, which might be helpful for academic and healthcare organizations in designing effective training courses for physicians.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to improve access to quality education for health care workers (HCWs) globally. Although studies have reported on the use of MOOCs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), our understanding of the scope of their utilization or access barriers and facilitators for this cohort is limited. We conducted a scoping review to map published peer-reviewed literature on MOOCs for HCW education in LMICs. We systematically searched four academic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, ERIC) and Google Scholar, and undertook a two-stage screening process. The analysis included studies that reported on MOOCs relevant to HCWs\' education accessed by HCWs based in LMICs.
The search identified 1,317 studies with 39 studies included in the analysis, representing 40 MOOCs accessed in over 90 LMICs. We found that MOOCs covered a wide range of HCWs\' including nurses, midwives, physicians, dentists, psychologists, and other workers from the broader health care sector, mainly at a post-graduate level. Dominant topics covered by the MOOCs included infectious diseases and epidemic response, treatment and prevention of non-communicable diseases, communication techniques and patient interaction, as well as research practice. Time contribution and internet connection were recognized barriers to MOOC completion, whilst deadlines, email reminders, graphical design of the MOOC, and blended learning modes facilitated uptake and completion. MOOCs were predominantly taught in English (20%), French (12.5%), Spanish (7.5%) and Portuguese (7.5%). Overall, evaluation outcomes were positive and focused on completion rate, learner gain, and student satisfaction.
We conclude that MOOCs can be an adequate tool to support HCWs\' education in LMICs and may be particularly suited for supporting knowledge and understanding. Heterogeneous reporting of MOOC characteristics and lack of cohort-specific reporting limits our ability to evaluate MOOCs at a broader scale; we make suggestions on how standardized reporting may offset this problem. Further research should focus on the impact of learning through MOOCs, as well as on the work of HCWs and the apparent lack of courses covering the key causes of diseases in LMICs. This will result in increased understanding of the extent to which MOOCs can be utilized in this context.

BACKGROUND: Developing online, widely accessible educational courses, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), offer novel opportunities to advancing academic research and the educational system in resource-constrained countries. Despite much literature on the use of design-related features and principles of different pedagogical approaches when developing MOOCs, there are reports of inconsistency between the pedagogical approach and the learning activities, content, or resources in MOOCs.
OBJECTIVE: We present a protocol for a scoping review aiming to systematically identify and synthesize literature on the pedagogical approaches used, and the learning activities, content, and resources used to facilitate social interaction and collaboration among postgraduate learners in MOOCs across the health sciences.
METHODS: We will follow a 6-step procedure for scoping reviews to conduct a search of published and gray literature in the following databases: Medline via Ovid, ERIC, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and PsychINFO. Two reviewers will screen titles, abstracts, and relevant full texts independently to determine eligibility for inclusion. The team will extract data using a predefined charting form and synthesize results in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist.
RESULTS: The scoping review is currently ongoing. As of March 2022, we have performed initial data searches and screened titles and abstracts of the studies we found but revised the search string owing to inaccurate results. We aim to start analyzing the data in June 2022 and expect to complete the scoping review by February 2023.
CONCLUSIONS: With the results of this review, we hope to report on the use of pedagogical approaches and what learning activities, content, and resources foster social and collaborative learning processes, and to further elucidate how practitioners and academics can harvest our findings to bridge the gap between pedagogics and learning activities in the instructional design of MOOCs for postgraduate students in the health sciences.
UNASSIGNED: DERR1-10.2196/35878.