Hueso Romero, José JavierGil Quintana, JavierGallegos Cárdenas, Miguel Ángel2026-03-062026-03-062026-03-02Hueso Romero, J. J., Quintana, J. G., & Cárdenas, M. Á. G. (2026). Benchmarking the Quality of Pedagogical Design in a Massive Open Online Learning Proposal from UNED. American Journal of Distance Education, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2026.26352200892-3647https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2026.2635220https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/32045The registered version of this article, first published in “American Journal of Distance Education, 1–17", is available online at the publisher's website: https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2026.2635220La versión registrada de este artículo, publicado por primera vez en “American Journal of Distance Education, 1–17", está disponible en línea en el sitio web del editor: https://doi.org/10.1080/08923647.2026.2635220This study develops and validates a multidimensional benchmarking instrument to evaluate the pedagogical quality of sNOOCs (social massive open online courses), integrating dimensions related to pedagogical design, usability, artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse. Through an instrumental validation study with a sequential-explanatory mixed methodology design. Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, a 24-item questionnaire was designed and administered in a peer assessment conducted by 135 postgraduate students at UNED (Spanish University of Distance Education), generating 937 assessments. The psychometric results confirm the excellent reliability of the instrument (Cronbach’s α = 0.97) and its structural validity, with a factor analysis explaining 77.6% of the variance. The findings reveal that pedagogical design is the highest-rated dimension, followed by usability and the quality of AI, showing a strong correlation among them. By contrast, the integration of the metaverse emerges as the main challenge, receiving the lowest rating and showing the greatest dispersion, indicating a lack of effective pedagogical alignment. The research validates peer assessment as a robust methodological strategy and offers a practical tool for continuous improvement of instructional design in advanced digital educational settings, while underlining the need for intentional pedagogical integration of emerging technologies.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess58 Pedagogíaartículo1538-9286