A Comparative Study On The Design Of Learning Activity Design Between Domestic And Overseas English Language MOOCs

MOOCs,as a kind of new educational resources in recent years,arouse great attention of educational circles all over the world.MOOCs provide amount of learning opportunities for global learners and play a vital role of promoting education equality.By the end of 2018,1291 MOOCs in our country were certificated as Excellent Open Online Courses at state level.In addition to instructional videos,the design of learning activity is also a determinant for MOOCs quality.In this study,four English MOOCs were selected from the domestic and abroad respectively to compare their components and learning activity design.Firstly,the overall course structure of English MOOCs with four groups was analyzed through comparative analysis.Secondly,guided by activity theory and the characteristics of MOOCs,the activity design was compared in three aspects: activity objective,activity task and activity feedback.Then,take Grammar Course as an example,students' overall perception of learning activity design was investigated through questionnaires and 5 students were interviewed by random sampling.The major findings are listed as follows.(1)As for the course structure,the differences of English Language MOOCs from domestic and abroad lie in course objective,time allotment,the presentation mode of course content and supporting materials.Clear learning objectives were presented in overseas English MOOCs while no specific area was used to illustrate learning objectives in domestic English MOOCs;four weeks were arranged for overseas English MOOCs and eight weeks for domestic's in comparison;the course content was presented through videos and text in overseas English MOOCs,and only videos in domestic English MOOCs;the supporting materials were mainly links and questionnaires in overseas English MOOCs while courseware and extracurricular reading materials were provided in domestic English MOOCs.(2)There are differences of activity design in English Language MOOCs from domestic and abroad.According to the Bloom's Taxonomy's 6 Levels of Learning,the objective of overseas English MOOCs activity were designed in a higher level while a lower level in domestic English MOOCs;input-based tasks focused on the function of text materials in overseas English MOOCs,but no text materials in domestic English MOOCs for input tasks;as for activity feedback,overseas English MOOCs emphasize the higher interaction among students through peer evaluation while domestic English MOOCs paid less attention to interaction among students through final examination.(3)Significant differences reveal in students' learning experience of activity design in overseas and domestic English Language MOOCs.From the questionnaires and interviews,the learning objectives of overseas English MOOCs were presented clearly to guide students' learning,but no explicit learning objectives in domestic English MOOCs;the instructional videos were concise but insufficient to meet the needs of students in overseas English MOOCs,while in domestic English MOOCS,the instructional videos were long and boring to students;the text materials were more diverse and more complicated in overseas English MOOCs than those in domestic English MOOCs;the feedbacks from overseas English MOOCs were more positive than those from domestic English MOOCs,particularly in peer evaluation.This study could provide some references and suggestions for the construction of English MOOCs in our country through comparing the differences of course structure and activity design between English MOOCs from domestic and abroad and investigating students' overall perception and learning experiences in overseas and domestic English Language MOOCs.