The Role of MOOCs in Transnational Higher Education -- The African diaspora Dr. Eldonna L. May Wayne State University ~ Detroit, Michigan

Precursors to MOOCs 2008 (Wiley, Siemans, Downes, Cormier) Open Educational Resources (OER) MIT OpenCourseWare project: 2,100 ‘courses’ Kahn Academy OLI: 18 free online courses Saylor Foundation: 281 free online courses MRUniversity: MOOC platform for Economics “Marginal Revolution University” ‐ George Mason U.

Massive Open Online Courses Online course (4 – 12 weeks) Open access – global online learning communities ‘Unlimited’ enrollment Graded (automated) Discussion forums / Meet-ups Free (may pay for proctored exams) May offer a ‘Certificate of Completion’ Non ‐ credit (typically) Not an alternative degree pathway

The Proliferation of MOOCs U.S.-based MOOC consumers see MOOCs as a no-cost alternative to college fees have risen astronomically in recent years Because there is no longer parallel a rise in employment earnings traditional university study denotes a negative ROI. The legislatures of cash-strapped U.S. states consider MOOCs the means to reduce costs for public higher education sectors. MOOCs began in the English-speaking West, but also have reached educationally under-served members of the international community. Universities unable meet rising global demand for education by building thousands of new campuses; MOOCs offer low-cost, attractive alternative. Rapid innovation in online technology coincides with developments in higher education. Learners increasingly insist upon more technology in education; MOOCs respond to this demand.

Major Purveyors of MOOCs in the United States Udacity (for ‐ profit) Stanford Sebastian Thrun Coursera (for ‐ profit) Stanford Daphne Koller, Andrew Ng edX (not ‐ for ‐ profit) MIT/Harvard Khan Academy (not-for-profit) Udemy (for-profit)

Popular MOOCs – A Short List Introduction to Artificial IntelligenceIntroduction to Artificial Intelligence by Sebastian Thrun of Udacity and Peter Norvig of Google, Inc. Gender Through Comic BooksGender Through Comic Books by Christina Blanch of Ball State University addresses questions of gender representations and constructions involving both men and women. X-InformaticsX-Informatics by Prof. Geoffrey Fox of Indiana University discusses the mathematics, science and computer code involved in detecting a Higgs Boson. Welcome to ComputingWelcome to Computing by Richard Buckland of the University of New South Wales, Australia. Frontiers/Controversies in AstrophysicsFrontiers/Controversies in Astrophysics by Professor Charles Bailyn of Yale University discusses exoplanets, black holes, and cosmology.

Providers of MOOCs outside the United States – Coursera Partners Ecole Polytechnique, France Edinburgh University, Scotland IE Business School, Spain Leiden University, The Netherlands Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy Technical University of Denmark Technical University Munich, Germany University of Copenhagen, Denmark University of Geneva, Switzerland University of Helsinki, Finland Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain The University of London, England

MOOCs Around the World Academy Cube – EU Commission Open2Study – Australia Digital October – Russia FutureLearn – UK AMI – Africa JMOOC - Japan CnMooc – China Open HPI – Germany MiriadaX – Latin America

MOOCs in the African diaspora Serve local populations (rural villages) Improve teacher education quality Improve student learning Credentialing Accounting & Finance Teacher Training (Education) Health Care University Curriculua University of Pretoria University of Cape Coast

Challenging Assumptions and Concerns About MOOCs The necessity of a fixed, time ‐ based curriculum What is a learning space? Our notion of what constitutes a college Roles of faculty & students The balance of power: shifting to students – More options: knowledge acquisition & credentialing ********** Academic rigor & quality, esp. at scale Plagiarism and cheating Commercial exploitation Student adaptability Dropout & failure rates Need for ‘urban planning’

Why embrace MOOCs? Improve teaching and learning Tap into global intelligence Democratize education Mine talent for employers (recruitment service) Brand recognition, brand marketing Extend scope of influence Prototypes of optimized learning environments Hedge against irrelevance