Abstract:

Today, online education is a learning modality recognized for providing opportunities to expand the educational offer and its coverage. Given the lack of classroom spaces and the increasing demand for admission to educational institutions, online courses have allowed the design of new schemes to recognize studies completed outside the classroom. Within this context, massive open online courses (MOOC) have generated high expectations and revolutionized some educational practices, openly offering educational resources for consultation, use or adaptation for non-commercial purposes. However, when analyzed in detail, is often questioned the lack of standards to assess their pedagogical quality; the assessment models that are generally used, are limited to knowledge tests that do not provide sufficient information on the results in relation to the learning objectives or forms of student participation, and do not explain the recorded significant dropout rates. In order to identify indicators for the evaluation of the educational quality of a MOOC, this study was conducted in the MOOC "Leadership in strategic educational management through the use of technology" offered as a resource for teacher training via the Coursera platform. Based on the research questions, a quantitative approach was adopted, through a quasi-experimental design evaluation. An instrument was designed to collect information about a set of indicators of pedagogic quality that have been used in several educational research studies. Through the Delphi method, 55 experts (professors, teaching assistants, instructional designers, graphic designers, programmers and producers of audiovisual media) who have participated in the design, development and delivery of differents MOOC offered by a higher education institution validated the instrument. Based on the recommendations issued by the experts, a MOOC was designed and offered to more than 9,200 participants from 78 different countries. Results show the recommendations of the indicators, the characteristics of the participants and the information generated about the pedagogical quality of this teacher training course. We conclude that without measuring the results, it is not possible to judge the success of a MOOC; therefore, institutions and consortia should establish evaluation indicators that allow to focus the efforts on the improvement of their pedagogical quality. To achieve this, evaluation systems must be implemented to ensure the acquisition of skills, not just knowledge. It is necessary to establish criteria for pedagogical quality that are not limited to issue an assessment based on the "reputation" of the educational institution offering the course, in order to provide a resource that contributes to all participants having access to a "world class" education, and thus promote the principles outlined in an "Education for All".

Keywords:

Massive open online courses, MOOC, Evaluation, Pedagogical Quality, Teacher training.