Abstract:

With the emergence of World Wide Web, a good amount of online educational services are introduced. Some of them made profound impact e.g. Coursera, edX, Udacity, and Khan Academy etc., while others went unnoticed. The purpose of this research study is to create a taxonomic classification of the existing online educational services that have emerged in the last few years and to analyze them for the sake of promoting online education in Pakistan. The study also investigates and analyzes the multifaceted problems and challenges in implementation and adoption of online education. In this study, a sample of 30 online educational services selected randomly. The data for this research collected from online sources in order to create a taxonomic classification of the existing online educational services based on six parameters (five Ws and one H). The taxonomic classification scheme focus on six variables: the users (who) uses the online education services, the content (what) to deliver, the location (where) it belongs to, the timeline (when) it gets launched, the purpose (why) of online education service, and the method (how) use to provide information. On the basis of the results of this research study, it can be concluded that the provided taxonomy for differentiating and classifying online education platforms plays a vital role in defining the sustainability and the existence of online education platforms. Conducted research also provides an implication for stakeholders including government, policy and decision makers, researchers, educationists, practitioners, and especially those who are interested in promoting online education in developing countries like Pakistan.

Keywords:

Taxonomic classification, Online Education, MOOCs, Innovative Technologies.