5 - Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and Green Economy Transition: Feasibility Assessment for African Higher Education

Abstract

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a new phenomenon globally and in Africa. MOOCS have attracted student registration in hundreds of thousands per course in certain instances, as well as gaining acceptance across different societies. MOOCs present opportunities for learning in general and specifically learning towards green economy transition in Africa. Many MOOCs are currently hosted by institutions of higher education in the USA, with the first MOOC breakthrough entitled “Artificial Intelligence” having ‘exploded’ at Stanford University in California (USA) in summer 2011. The “Artificial Intelligence” enrolled 160,000 students, 23,000 of which graduated after 10 weeks. The question then is: are MOOCs feasible in educating African masses in the field of green economy transition? Born in 2008 and popularised throughout the years following the global financial crisis, world leaders confirmed from Rio+20 that green economy transition is the way to go if humanity is to remain sustainable on planet earth. This paper presents MOOCs as an emerging area with opportunities to enhance learning for green economy transition in general and specifically for Africa. The twin phenomena under discussion require massive roll outs of: firstly, learning management systems like MOOCs, and, secondly, the dissemination of massive appropriate content, knowledge and skills related to green economy transition that current formal education systems will not manage given the demand and urgency. The answer to the question raised is therefore a qualified ‘yes’ mainly due to limited e-readiness in the continent.