Special Leadership Lecture by CEO of First British MOOC Platform Future Learn, Simon Nelson
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2014-09-17
"When everyone was talking about the death of TV and universities, I discovered a potential opportunity to rediscover and newly relay the value of universities. It could be done through MOOC(Massive Open Online Course)s."
Nelson, who visited our university on the 2nd, spoke about the background of the foundation of Future Learn, the first MOOC platform in the United Kingdom, through the leadership lecture. He said, "Some people had a negative view about MOOC, and others had the opposite view that it would solve all our education problems." He stressed, "However, the important thing is that the opportunity to learn must be spread to many more people, This is what we aim to do through Future Learn."
Future Learn is currently connected to 40 universities. The main universities are the top 26 universities in the United Kingdom, and international universities in countries like New Zealand, South Africa and China. This network was established in just 18 months. Nelson said the three elements that allowed Future Learn to grow in a short time were digital technology innovations, a demand spread over a span of all ages, and creative lectures. He revealed, "Digital technology must be developed for people from over 100 countries to hold discussions and share opinions, and people of all ages can receive education comfortably without age restriction, and creative lectures are provided, which get people interested. This led to success." He presented cases such as a CSI class (a class where things like the CSI method are solved as an example) and stressed the infinite possibilities of a MOOC platform.
Nelson warned, "Adapting to the internet environment is not a choice but mandatory for universities in the MOOC age. If they don't adapt, they will fall to become places that teach knowledge that is unrelated to society." In order to quickly counteract to such changes, our university was the first in Korea to start an online and offline MOOC combined campus in the beginning of this year, and established a MOOC research center called KCDH (Korea Center for Digital Humanities). KCDH currently not only introduces major MOOC classes such as Coursera, edX and Udacity, but also conducts a variety of additional activities such as tutor and study group calls, and MOOC guide and tool classes.
Nelson advised, "The core of MOOC is interaction and sharing," and added, "You will be able to gain diverse learning and education through discussions with other participants." In addition, more companies are gradually expected to recognize MOOC certificates, so it is recommended that students take many MOOC classes and add it to their experience.