Evaluation Of Instructional Design Of MOOC

Since 2012 when xMOOC gained world-wide popularity, they have been expanding rapidly. Today, in this Post-MOOC Era, with x MOOC being the most prevailing form, new forms of MOOC are emerging. After three years’ dramatic growth, attitudes torwards MOOC have changed from overwhelming approval to rational judgements. Currently, despite their popularity, there are conflicting perspectives on the effectiveness of MOOC for learning. However, with the increase in the number of platforms and courses, MOOC are still attracting students worldwide while shaping tertiary education.Thus, to address the concern, identify the overall quality, common problems and qualified design of MOOC and thus promote future development, this essay evaluates the instructional design quality of seventy eight x MOOC and new forms of MOOC with a questionnaire based on First Principles of Instruction. MOOC selected are from the most influential platforms home and abroad, namely Coursera, Udacity, edX, Futurelearn, xuetangx and iCourse. The evaluation is carried out by the author of this thesis and another experienced teacher.The evaluation and discussion reveal that the instructional design quality of MOOC is relatively poor and problems exist concerning each of the first principles of instruction. Meanwhile, there are some well–designed xMOOC and new forms of MOOC, among them are Udacity, MOOR, DOCC etc. These qualified design features, especially those of new forms of MOOC, show the reflection of personnel designing these platforms. In accordance with the first principles of instruction, Merrill has initiated the pebble in the pond model to promote courses that are in line with the first principles of instruction. Based on evaluation and Pebble in the Pond Model, this essay initiates strategies that promote instructional design quality of MOOC, hoping that it could shed light on instructional design of MOOC on Chinese platforms.