Typologies of (Open) Online Courses and Their Dimensions, Characteristics and Relationships with Distributed Learning Ecosystems, Open Educational Resources, and Massive Open Online Courses

Abstract

This chapter analyses the different typologies of online courses. First, we start with a reflection about the key terms of online learning, online courses, and distributed learning ecosystems (DLE). In our literature review, we cannot identify any existing typology framework for online courses. Consequently, we analyse and compare dimensions and categories of online courses from different sources: first, from the collected publications and studies identified in our literature review, second, from the current practices and platforms for online courses, and third, from standards for online courses, including the first international quality norm for online learning ISO/IEC 40180. As our key result, a framework proposal for the different typologies of online courses is developed based on these discussions and a comparison of several dimensions. The integration of our comparison results leads to the Typologies of Online Courses (TOC) framework with eight dimensions. The aim of the TOC framework is two-fold. First, it should support designers in the design, quality development, and evaluation of online courses. Second, it should enable learners to differentiate online courses according to the dimensions of these courses in comparison with their own preferences and demands. In the conclusion, an outlook on future research needs is provided. Finally, we come full circle and briefly discuss how (open) online courses and especially the two currently most important types, namely, Open Educational Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), can contribute to DLE and to addressing the general need for (equity and collaborative) education for all.