Social flow in social MOOCs

Abstract

Flow theory is a way to explain how humans can be self-motivated and reach a state of high focus and intense, very effective learning. Usually this theory is merely descriptive but recently it has also been operationalized and used as the basis for building autonomous agents. This paper examines how such an operationalization can be incorporated in computer-supported learning environments such as MOOCs. It also expands the notion of flow to take into account ‘social flow’ occurring in a group of learners, such as a sports team or a small Jazz ensemble. We discuss how this kind of social flow can be induced, what the benefits are, and how it is relevant for building learning communities through web and social media.