Instructional quality of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

We present an analysis of instructional design quality of 76 randomly selected Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The quality of MOOCs was determined from first principles of instruction, using a course survey instrument. Two types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs) were analysed and their instructional design quality was assessed and compared. We found that the majority of MOOCs scored poorly on most instructional design principles. However, most MOOCs scored highly on organisation and presentation of course material. The results indicate that although most MOOCs are well-packaged, their instructional design quality is low. We outline implications for practice and ideas for future research.     

Understanding the MOOCs continuance: The role of openness and reputation

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are classes delivered in an online environment with several features that are different from previous approaches to online education. The effectiveness of MOOCs is an open question as completion rates are substantially less than traditional online education courses. The objective of this study is to identify factors that enhance an individual' intention to continue using MOOCs, which a limited amount of research has previously explored. A research model based on the information systems continuance expectation-confirmation model is proposed and tested with data collected in a large-scale study. The research model explained a substantial percentage of the variance for the intention to continue using MOOCs, which is significantly influenced by perceived reputation, perceived openness, perceived usefulness, perceived, and user satisfaction. Perceived reputation and perceived openness were the strongest predictors and have not previously been examined in the context of MOOCs.