The New York Times declared 2012 the year of the MOOC – Massive Open Online Courses. They have made a huge splash since then. Organizations like EdX and Coursera have spread knowledge online to millions across the world. Where are these online courses most common? The developing world.

Both Coursera and EdX are based in the United States but are more popular in places like China, Rwanda and Brazil. A lot of the popularity in the idea of MOOCs is their ability to reach everyone, especially those that might not have access to the knowledge and content divulged by the online courses.

Interestingly, MOOCs have only recently jumped on the radar of policymakers in governments of low-income countries. Electrical engineering professor in El Salvador, Carlos Martinez, took an electrical circuits class on EdX and thought it was so good that he began an adventure around El Salvador advocating for MOOCs.

Why did he have to advocate? Because his own university did not support his ideas about the online courses. After his journey, he enrolled 50 of his electrical engineering students and ran the class ad hoc, without grades or official assignments, with an experiment in a hallway every week instead of a proper lab.

There have even been reports of the developing world being “MOOCed out,” that they were not effective and that very few individuals who began a course online actually completed it. However, if utilized correctly, MOOCs can be a powerful tool for education in the developing world.

Martinez explained the best benefits of MOOCs —“I want to let the new ideas in, raise the bar and change the curriculum.”

This is exactly what MOOCs can be used for. While online courses are valuable opportunities for individual learners, they are even more useful when utilized in small groups of informal learners to supplement already existing education, according to Martinez. More and more, users of MOOCs in other countries are creating a new education model by “combining screen time with face time.” By mixing the two, small groups of informal learners foster a learning environment through sharing ideas with peers and mentors. It gives learners a taste of education from the first world.

A perfect example of the power of MOOCs used in a group is Kepler University to supplement formal university education in a group setting in Rwanda. They hope that their blend of MOOCs and lecture-style courses can make an impact on the education of potential undiscovered talents.

One of the huge advantages of MOOCs is that they level the playing field. They bring elite education to anyone with Internet access. With the growing spread of the Internet, more and more will have access to the great wealth of online courses.

— Greg Baker

Sources: Slate, New York Times, World Bank, Technology Review, Al Jazeera, The Verge