MOOCs in the Global Context

2017 ◽  
pp. 39-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushil K. Oswal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ohio State University ◽  
State University ◽  
International Context ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Gates Foundation

The purpose of this chapter is to present a critique of MOOC hype in the international context. The author scrutinizes the claims advanced by MOOC proponents by asking two questions: 1) What are the assumptions about literacy and learning that inform MOOC discourse about mass education of U.S. and foreign citizens? and 2) What could be some unstated political, cultural, and economic purposes behind these MOOC ventures? In order to provide a contextualized and substantiated critique of the exaggerated claims about the innovative nature of MOOC pedagogy and their extended reach to the poor citizens of developing countries, the author presents an analysis of two writing courses offered as MOOCs by Georgia Tech and Ohio State University, both sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Finally, the author also discusses the implications of this MOOC hype in the international context to the United States.

Redefining Boundaries

The New Deal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiran Klaus Patel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Deal ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
International Context ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
The World ◽  
New Policies ◽  
The New Deal

This chapter builds on the findings of Chapter 2 and examines the New Deal's domestic initiatives in a global context during the second half of the 1930s. The years 1933 and 1935 did not stand for different philosophies or economic models. More than new policies or programs, it was the domestic and international context that was different two years into the New Deal, and the term “security” in particular took on a new meaning. In the United States, the political debates were much more entrenched in 1935 than in 1933, when the advocates of laissez-faire capitalism had been shell-shocked by the Great Slump. Internationally, things were just as bad, given the triumphs of fascism and communism in various regions of the world. The threat emanating from political and military developments in other parts of the world impacted the domestic agenda much more than before, thus redefining the meaning of the global for American politics.

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