The Quality of MOOCs
ir. Willem van Valkenburg
@wfvanvalkenburg
slideshare.net/wfvanvalkenburg
Unless otherwise indicated, this presentation is licensed CC-BY 4.0.
Please attribute TU Delft Extension School / Willem van Valkenburg
PhotoCC-BYCoraBijsterveld

2
Willem van Valkenburg
Manager Teaching & Learning Services
Delft University of Technology
Vice-President
Open Education Consortium
twitter.com/wfvanvalkenburg slideshare.net/wfvanvalkenburg

3
PROGRAMME
1. TU Delft Online Learning Programme
2. From Courses to Programmes
3. Quality Assurance
4. Educational Quality
5. Internal Quality
6. External Quality
7. Questions

1. Programme

5
VISION
“Educate the world
&
enhance quality
of online & campus
education”

E-Dean Director of
Education
Delft Extension School
MOOCs
Blended
Education
Online
Courses

2. From Courses to Programmes

Blended Education
OpenCourseWare MOOCs ProfEds
Online Academic
Courses
• Learning Activities &
Course Materials
• Free
• Enrolled students only,
massive numbers
• Mostly Bachelor level
• Certificate of
Completion
• Course Materials
• Free
• Big Exposure,
Worldwide audience
• Both Bachelor and
Master level
• No interaction with
faculty
• No accredited
certificate
• Learning Activities &
Course Materials
• Paid enrollment
• Enrolled students only,
limited numbers
• Accredited Course
Certificate
• Full Master Degree
• Learning Activities &
Course Materials
• Paid enrollment
• Enrolled students only,
moderate numbers
• Course Certificate
• Continuous Education
Units

9
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

10
Short Learning Programmes
“Group courses into short learning programmes to guide the learner
through a relevant learning path to obtain a relevant certificate”
• Xseries
– understanding of specific subject through a series of courses.
– At least 3 courses
• Professional Certificate Programme
– Gain the critical skills and knowledge you need to stand out in your field.
– At least 2 courses
• MicroMaster
– A series of Master’s-level courses to advance your career, accelerate your
Master’s Degree
– MicroMasters Programs are credit-eligible and may be applied to accelerate a
Master’s Degree.
– At least 15 EC

11
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

3. Quality Assurance
CC-BY-NC Michael Sauers: https://flic.kr/p/4HeVxR

13
WHAT IS QUALITY ASSURANCE?
• Have a quality standard and process
• Being in control of the process
• Internal validation
• External validation

4. Educational Quality

Online Learning Experience
“The purpose of
the OLE radar
graph is to rise
reflection and
critical thinking
regarding online
courses, not to
judge”
https://onlinelearningresearch.weblog.tudelft.nl/2015/07/05/defining-a-
pedagogical-model-the-tu-delft-online-learning-experience/

Running EvaluationCourse Development
Kickoff Review Start of Course Evaluation Meeting
Course
Improvement Plan
OLE introduction use for reflection use for evaluate
Draft Course Design
Draft Planning
Evaluation
Report
List of final
improvements
building testing
Onboarding
Final Course Design & Planning
Course Team, Roles & Processes
use as guidelines
planning
TU Delft Online Learning
Education Quality Cycle

19
ONLINELEARNINGHUB.TUDELFT.NL

5. Internal Quality
CC-BY-NC-ND https://flic.kr/p/dyq4xR

21
MOOCS FOR CREDITS
https://www.tudelft.nl/studenten/onderwijs/virtual-exchange/

22
Virtual Exchange Programme

2323

6. External Quality

25
NVAO: ACCREDITATION ORGANISATION OF
THE NETHERLANDS AND FLANDERS
Institutional audit
‘The university has a strong quality culture; its quality assurance
system is not an end in itself, but a means to emphasise this quality
culture. The panel is impressed by the convincing way in which TU
Delft has shown to be in charge of educational quality assurance.’
‘Educational developments and innovation are important pillars of TU
Delft’s educational quality policy, in particular the development of
open and online education’.
Source: https://www.nvao.com/instellingen/nederland/technische-universiteit-delft

26
EXTERNAL RECOGNITION
https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2018/tu-delft/mit-benchmark-puts-tu-delft-at-the-forefront-of-innovative-education/

27
AWARDS
• 2014 Nuffic Orange Carpet Award
• 7 Open Education Awards for Excellence for MOOCs
• First edX Award for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and
Learning for Arno Smets (professor of Solar Energy MOOC)
• 2016 EDEN ‘Best Practice Initiative Award’
• EMOOCS2016 Outstanding Paper & Video Award

28
CHALLENGES
• Conservatism in education
• How to recognize a quality MOOC?
• Low Completion Rates

29
ONLINE-LEARNING.TUDELFT.NL
twitter.com/TUDelftOnline