Design Thinking Education: A Comparison of Massive Open Online Courses

The popularity of design thinking is soaring, both as an approach to innovation and as a tool for non-designers seeking to gain a strategic edge over the competition. As more and more people take advantage of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to bolster their skill sets, it comes as no surprise that design thinking courses have cropped up across various disciplines worldwide, in formal and informal educational settings. In this article, we report on our research into design thinking courses available to anyone online. Our study explored and categorized the different types of design thinking MOOCs available in June 2017. It reveals the what (content), how (pedagogy and assessment), and why of online design thinking courses. The findings we discuss here can support design thinking education not only via the web, but also more generally.