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The impact and reach of MOOCs:a developing countries’ perspective

Liyanagunawardena, T., Williams, S. and Adams, A. (2013) The impact and reach of MOOCs:a developing countries’ perspective. eLearning Papers (33). ISSN 1887-1542

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Abstract/Summary

Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a recent but hugely popular phenomenon in the online learning world. They are hailed by many as a solution for the developing world’s lack of access to education because MOOCs can provide learning opportunities to a massive number of learners from anywhere in the world as long as they can access the course through Internet. However, a close consideration of the ability of learn- ers from most developing countries to make use of MOOCs seems to contradict this rhetoric. This paper discusses features of MOOCs and looks at them from a developing countries’ perspective to conclude that due to a complicated set of conditions (‘access’, language, computer literacy among others) prevailing in developing countries, MOOCs may not be a viable solution for education for a large proportion of people in these ar- eas of the world. The paper further shows the need for more data on the demograph- ics of MOOC participants from developing countries to form a better understanding of MOOCs role in educating people from developing countries.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Science
ID Code:32452
Uncontrolled Keywords:MOOCs, developing countries, connectivism, online learning
Publisher:eLearningeuropa.info
Publisher Statement:The texts published in this journal, unless otherwise indicated, are subject to a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivativeWorks 3.0 Unported licence. They may be copied, distributed and broadcast provided that the author and the e-journal that publishes them, eLearning Papers, are cited. Commercial use and derivative works are not permitted.

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