MOOCs in the developing world – Pros and cons - University World News

"Massive open online courses have brought education from top universities to armchair scholars across the globe. Now some are wondering whether MOOCs, as they are called, could help elevate developing nations. Advocates say the MOOC could bring quality instruction to poverty-stricken places where university attendance is little more than a fantasy. But critics worry that the largely Western-style courses could equate to a new form of imperialism and push out more effective forms of education. Just two years into its existence, the MOOC has blossomed worldwide – including in developing nations such as India and China. EdX, a non-profit platform developed by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT, boasts 2.5 million students, for example – about a million from developing nations. Among edX’s students are 300,000 from India alone, said CEO Anant Agarwal – also a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT who taught the first, hugely successful edX MOOCs ..."