Massive Open Online Courses: EdX, Coursera and Udacity, A Comparative Study

The significant breakthroughs in the world of technology have resulted in boom of highly sophisticated electronic devices and communication tools. Interestingly, this technology revolution has not only affected business, training and military sectors but has also taken academics into its stride. It has removed the barriers of space and time thereby delivering knowledge anytime anywhere. Distance education, learning-management systems and the opportunity to collaborate with research partners from around the world are just some of the transformational benefits that the academicians are embracing. MOOCs are one such significant transformation that characterizes the 21st century education system. The present paper is an effort to analyze and compare three of the world‟s most popularly used MOOCs i.e. EdX, Coursera and Udacity that provide courseware to engineering students across the globe. This paper compares these three platforms of e-learning based on parameters like the content, pedagogical support and assessments. This paper is an effort to draw from best practices from world class MOOCs and serve as guidelines for the budding e-learning portals.