Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a unique form of online education enabled by web-based learning technologies, allow learners from anywhere in the world with any level of educational background to enjoy online education experience provided by many top universities all around the world. However, the forms of learning activities in MOOC settings are usually limited to watch­ing lecture or tutorial videos, joining formative or summative assessments, discussing with peer students, etc. These modes of learning could greatly limit the learning experience of the learners particularly in appreciating and acquiring certain tacit knowledge that the course contents aim to deliver, for example in courses that deal with the vast expanse of the environment or the spiri­tual aspect of a culture, etc.

In the creation of our three weeks MOOC, "Virtual Hong Kong: New World, Old Traditions", we combined tradi­tional online education delivery methods such as articles and tutorial videos with the smart­phone-enabled Virtual Reality (VR) educational contents that can provide impactful immersive learning experiences to MOOC learners. To our knowledge, we are the first MOOC that delivers im­mersive learning contents for distant learners to appreciate and experience how the traditional culture and folklores of Hong Kong impact upon the lives of its inhabitants in the 21st Century. The course is structured by following the three important elements in the eastern culture, namely Heaven, Earth, and Mankind, and delivered to the learners in the following formats:

1. Virtual Guided Tour

   • Uses interactive narratives to tour learners around sites. Learners can extract information by interacting with the displays and objects in the virtual scenarios, which are the recreations of the sites in real life.

2. Spherical Panoramic Documentary

   • Documents ritual practices, carnivals, parades, etc., from the first person perspective. 

3. Animated Interactive Story

   • Uses computer animation techniques to recreate folklore and historical events with narrations. 

4. Traditional learning contents such as videos, photos, and articles