Evaluation Criteria of Massive Open Online Courses

Over the past decades, distance learning has become an increasingly popular way of acquiring knowledge. It resulted into the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that has provided a starting point for their active use in the education system. The recent global pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease has accelerated the development of distance learning, leading to an urgent need to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of MOOCs. Therefore, given that MOOCs are already being actively used as a new model of learning, and their importance in future education has only increased, the aim of the study is to identify optimal evaluation criteria for MOOCS in order to critically assess these courses and affect their quality level. In this paper, the author reviews the theoretical research using content analysis and formulates essential criteria for evaluating MOOCs, which can be used in the future for developing a more comprehensive quality assurance protocol. The criteria include curriculum organisation, teaching quality, methodology, technical aspects, motivation and culture, layout, evaluation, and recognition. The author emphasises the importance of MOOC evaluation and suggests that more practical research could help to determine more precise evaluation criteria for specific courses. Overall, this paper highlights the significance of MOOCs in future education and the need for critical evaluation to ensure their effectiveness in providing high-quality learning experiences for participants.