mooc慕课

MorePeopleShiftTowardFreeOnlineEducation

Withrisingacademicfeesandpeople'sbusyschedules,moreandmorepeopleareshifting

towardonlinelearningprograms,manyofwhicharebeingofferedforfree.

Mythologymaybethestudyofage-oldcultures,butthisclassroomisanythingbutancient.

Around54,000studentsaroundtheworldarecurrentlytakingthiscourinGreekandRoman

tudio,there'sacamera,recordingequipment,computersandtechnicalstaffto

helpStruck,theinstructor,torecordlecturesandconductlivequestionandanswerssionswith

students.

Theinternet-badcoursareknownasmassive,open,onlineclassorMOOCforshort.

Peoplearoundtheworldaresigningupforsimilarclassintheirmillions.

MOOCsarebarelyayearold,buttheycaughtonquicklybecauthey'regenerallyfreeand

tscangothroughthematerialwhen

theyhavetime,andthereareonlineclasschatmessageboardsforstudentdiscussions.

IntheNetherlands,oneofMOOCsmythologystudentsFausiaAbdoelsaysonlinecours

makethingasierthantheywouldbeintheclassroom.

"It'arebehindacomputer,andtheyaretalkingtoeachother

waymoreeasilyIhavenoticedthanpeopledoin,duringlectures."

Butasstudentsdon'tearnacademiccreditsthroughMOOCclassandaren'tevenconsidered

officialattendeesattheacademicinstitutions,thereasonpeopleenrollareoftenvaried.

Struck,theinstructorofthiscouradmitsthateventhoughhemissthepersonalinteraction

oftraditionalteaching,thebenefitisthatagreaternumberofpeopleareabletolearnsomething

new.

"Whatwe'reheretodoasacademicsistofindoutnewknowledgeandtospreaditabroadas

widelyaswepossiblycan."

WhileMOOCsmaynotbethebestformofeducation,forstudentswhojustwantwell-taught

accesstoprestigiousprofessorswithout

the$50,000(USD)pricetagischangingwhatitmeanstogetaneducation.

Currently,China'sPekingUniversityhasstartedcooperationwithMOOCsinceMaythisyear,

becomingthefirstAsianUniversityonthisopenclassplatform.

Ensuringthatwhereeveryouareintheworld,adecenteducationisn'ttoofaraway.

ForCRI,IamLiDong.