Certificate authentication and credit system of MOOCs in China

Abstract

Credit recognition in MOOCs is believed to be a key driver for the comprehensive reform of the higher education system, and relevant documents have been issued by China’s Ministry of Education to encourage innovation in its credit recognition mechanism. In Opinions on Strengthening Construction, Application and Management of Online Open Courses in Institutions of Higher Learning, the Ministry of Education calls for “the advancement of credit recognition for online open courses and innovation of credit management system,” “encourages colleges and universities to initiate credit recognition, credit transfer and learning process recognition in various ways such as online study and the combination of online study and classroom teaching provided that teaching quality can be assured,” sets out to “build intra-school & inter-school mechanisms of online study certification and credit recognition with assessment criteria, actively explores and promotes the application of online open courses, strengthen course selection management and credit management to guarantee the teaching quality” [JG (2015) No. 3]. Based on the data from reports and surveys, also by means of questionnaires and literature analysis, this chapter tries to depict the current landscape of certificate granting as well as credit recognition of MOOCs in China.