Understanding the Value of MOOCs from the Perspectives of Students: A Value-Focused Thinking Approach

This study aims to identify the values of MOOCs in education from students’ perspective in China. The value of Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs) can be seen as the benefits associated with the use of MOOCs in education. To address this, we employed the Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) approach to identify the values of MOOCs with university students in China. Twenty active students of MOOCs were interviewed in China. Based on the data collected from the interviews, we developed a means-ends objective network describing the value of MOOCs in education. According to the results, efficiency in learning, effectiveness in learning, convenience of learning, learning experience of MOOCs, and usability of MOOCs were identified as the fundamental objectives to maximize values of MOOCs in education.

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