How employment constrains participation in MOOCs?

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) changed the way continuous education is perceived. Employees willing to progress their careers can take high quality courses. Students can develop skills outside curriculum. Studies show that most of the MOOC users are pursuing or have received a university degree. Therefore it is beneficial to consider motives and constraints of this class of participants while designing a course. In this study we focus on time constraints experienced by full-time and part-time employees and students. Surprisingly, activities of students and employees are very similar regarding timing. We found that part-time employees spend more time on forum and are more active during the day. Employees are more active in the evening hours from Monday till Thursday. Based on our findings we suggest course design insights for practitioners.