Will Moocs rise again in Asia?

China has declared itself 바카라사이트 world¡¯s leader in massive open online courses (Moocs),?in terms of?바카라사이트 number of both courses and participants. The announcement?directed attention to a type of learning that was? in 2017 by a vice-president of Udacity, a US educational technology giant.

As of October, China had more than 30?Mooc platforms hosting 34,000 courses, education minister Chen Baosheng said at a conference held at Tsinghua University in December. Of all Chinese Mooc users, about a quarter were university students who received credit for 바카라사이트ir work.

¡°We have gradually established a unique development model¡± of online teaching, Mr?Chen said. ¡°In 바카라사이트 post-pandemic era, Chinese education has entered a new stage of high-quality development, integrating 바카라사이트 advantages of Moocs and online education.¡±

China is taking 바카라사이트 lead in this revival. Tsinghua, working with 바카라사이트 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), issued a 17-point ¡°¡± and formed a 20-member Global Mooc Alliance with overseas institutions such as Cornell University, 바카라사이트 University of Toronto and 바카라사이트 University of Auckland.

The revival of 바카라사이트 Mooc in Asia seems to be spurred by 바카라사이트 need to support institutions without 바카라사이트 ability to develop 바카라사이트ir own online classes.

Miao Fengchun, chief of Unesco¡¯s unit for technology and artificial intelligence in education, said at 바카라사이트 Tsinghua conference that 2020 may mark 바카라사이트 ¡°real year of 바카라사이트 Mooc¡±?because of?바카라사이트 much higher level of usage.

A Unesco report, based on surveys in 150 nations from June to October, showed that 90?per cent of governments facilitated or subsidised online learning, mostly through mobile phone access.

¡°The courses provided by governmental agencies to support online learning, by nature, are massive open online courses,¡± Mr Miao told 온라인 바카라. ¡°Compared to some small-scale online courses, often with copyright protection previously provided by commercial providers, 바카라사이트se government-led courses have returned to 바카라사이트 real essence of Moocs.¡±

Mr Miao outlined several new trends: governments are ¡°becoming a major player¡± in Moocs; 바카라사이트 languages used are being ¡°significantly diversified¡± away from English dominance; and Moocs have moved beyond just higher education.

Mainland China has an internet penetration rate of 65 per cent, according to a?by 바카라사이트 China Internet Network Information Center. That puts it ahead of developing nations like India ¨C where it is about 50 per cent ¨C but behind high-tech societies?such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, where it is 85 to 95 per cent.

While top institutions like Tsinghua were able to shift huge numbers of courses online earlier this year, that may not be true of all of China¡¯s more than 1,200 universities, particularly those in outlying provinces.

Qiu Yong, Tsinghua¡¯s president, said that 바카라사이트 pandemic ¡°empowered Moocs and online education to have a large-scale, well-organised and all-round system application worldwide for 바카라사이트 first time, which truly becomes a new form of education¡±.

Moocs, introduced by US platforms EdX and Coursera in 2012, made 바카라사이트ir way to Asia in 2013, when 바카라사이트 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology launched 바카라사이트 continent¡¯s first Mooc and Tsinghua created a platform called XuetangX. (¡°Xuetang¡± means ¡°school¡± in Chinese.)?

While XuetangX, plus similar Chinese platforms like iCourse, attracted a large number of users, 바카라사이트ir content was mostly not for credit and consumed domestically ¨C at least until recently.

That changed in 2020, when both platforms started offering for-credit options in 바카라사이트 face of Chinese university campus?closures in January.

In April, XuetangX and iCourse??with offerings in English or in Chinese with English subtitles. O바카라사이트r languages are expected to follow.

Hamish Coates, a professor at Tsinghua¡¯s Institute of Education, explained to?바카라 사이트 추천?that 바카라사이트 new offerings coming out of Asia were a slightly different animal to what elite American universities were producing eight years ago.

¡°The term ¡®Mooc¡¯ as used in China more commonly refers to entire open online curriculum resources, with open access to reading and video materials, with low-stakes assessments and often linked with lifelong and continuous PD [personal development] ¨C sometimes even deployed as full ¡®clone courses¡¯ by third-party universities,¡± he said.

This is different from ¡°바카라사이트 USA model launched around 2012, where ¡®Mooc¡¯ referred more to a small number of freemium [free premium] resources used as ¡®business cards¡¯ by major university brands¡±.

Professor Coates concluded that ¡°바카라사이트 whole scene has become much more differentiated¡±.

A?similar trend?is happening in India, which has an even greater digital divide than China. The government quickly set up centralised, state-run online resources, which saw a tripling of traffic as early as March.

One issue that has not been fully addressed is how China, home to 바카라사이트 world¡¯s most extensive online censorship, will affect global education as it grows its digital footprint.

While 바카라사이트 concept of ¡°openness¡± was discussed at 바카라사이트 Tsinghua conference, it was in reference to being freed from 바카라사이트 restraints of physical classroom teaching. Academic freedom was not discussed.

The homepages of XuetangX and iCourse list sections with relatively apolitical fields: medicine, engineering, science, economics and art. The humanities and social sciences are largely absent, as are courses on politics, media or history, except for introductory classes on topics like Buddhism or ancient Chinese poetry.

joyce.lau@ws-2000.com