- 342 - 11 th International CALIBER-2017 Webometric Analysis on Leading Course... Webometric Analysis on Leading Course Providers in MOOC: A Study Based on Alexa Ranking Abu K S P Kanchana Jayasekara Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses that are offer via internet based platforms to a very large majority of people without charging course fee. Interested individuals can follow MOOCs anytime, anywhere without facing geographical and financial barriers. The major objective of this study was to evaluate the leading MOOC providers based on Alexa ranking. Ten major MOOC providers were selected as the target group. The data for this study were collected using Alexa Internet website. Further, Leading MOOC providers were compared using global ranking, bounce rate, daily page views per visitor, daily time on site, search visits, total site linking in and speed. Keywords: Alexa Internet, e-Learning, MOOCs, Webometrics 11 th International CALIBER-2017 Anna University,Chennai, Tamil Nadu 02-04 August, 2017 © INFLI BNET Centre, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 1. Introduction Right from its inception, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) have been an integral part in all walks of human life. Further, with the advancement of ICT’s, the present day- to- day activities have shifted to a new paradigm, where the individual has access to all sorts of information right at his finger tip. The major issue is that one should gain the required ICT skills in order to search and retrieve information effectively. Due to the mass number of learners in the present era, the traditional classroom education does not fulfill their needs. Hence, the education institutes should deploy new way of teaching in order to satisfy these large numbers of learners. This is where the concept of e-learning was introduced where the teaching and learning is done by using electronic media which has the goal of learning anytime and from any place(Barjis, 2003). MOOCs are one of the new phenomenal rises among internet users. It can be considered as the future of open online education. According to Czerniewicz, et al.,(2015), “MOOCs are a flexible and open form of self-directed, online learning designed for mass participation. There are no fees or entry requirements and no formal academic credit is available” (p. 01). MOOCs gain significant popularity in recent years. Individuals who are interested about learning new things can follow MOOCs anytime, anywhere without facing geographical barriers and financial barriers. Currently, there are plenty of courses offered as MOOC, covering vast subject areas, which are provided by various course providers. However, to gain good and accurate knowledge individuals must follow courses provided by quality and well recognized MOOC providers. Alexa Internet (http://www.alexa.com) is a web information company founded in 1996 and operating under Amazon.com(Alexa, 2017). Alexa Internet