The workshop explored the status of open education in general and MOOCs in particular in Pakistan. In 2011, the modern MOOC movement started, when the first standard MOOC was launched. In few years, MOOCs have received immense coverage in academia, industry, and media. Students can learn any imaginable subject from the world’s top professors and industry experts.

2. Status of Open Education
Dr. Sajid Iqbal and Dr. Ammad Hassan
Department of Mechatronics & Control Engineering
Department of Transportation Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Lahore.
sajid.iqbal@uet.edu.pk
05 Mar, 2018

3. United Nations (UN) has listed education among its millennium
development goals (MDGs).
Dr. Richard Smalley cataloged education and population as the
top ten problems, which humanity will be facing over the next 50
years.

4. 20 Years ago

5. In 2050, Pakistan will become the 6th largest nation in the world by
population.

6. The cost of college textbooks has risen rapidly, forcing many students to
forgo required materials due to the expense.
65% of students report not purchasing a textbook because of its high
price.
College textbook prices rose 82% between 2003 and 2013,
approximately triple the rate of inflation in overall consumer prices (CPI)
during the same time (27%)
Digital alternatives have offered little financial relief, and are typically
sold on a subscription basis with heavy restrictions on access.

7. Macmillan Dictionary defined a MOOC as, “a course of study
offered over the Internet which is free and has a very large number
of participants” .
MOOCs have generated a paradigm shift in online education by
presenting free high-quality education to anyone, anywhere with
Internet access.

8. MOOCs became famous, when in the fall of 2011, a professor of
Stanford University conducted a course on Artificial Intelligence.
Enrollment quickly reached 160,000 students from 190
countries; only 23,000 finished it.
2012: Times year of the MOOC

9. According to IEEE CS 2022 report, with nanotechnology and
quantum computing, MOOCs are amongst top ten technologies
that could change the world by 2022.
The Report predicted that professional degrees from
accredited universities will be available through massive
online format before 2022.

10. More than 35 million people have themselves enrolled in MOOCs,
and 2015 enrollments figures are twice higher than that of 2014.
1800 new courses have been announced, taking the total number
of courses to 4200 from over 550 universities in 2015................
PAKISTANI UNIVERSITY?

11. In 2012, the CEO of MOOC platform—Udacity,
Sebestian Thrun forecasted, “In 50 years, there will be only 10
institutions in the world delivering higher education and Udacity has
a shot at being one of them”.
Peter Drucker (the founder of modern management) said in 1997,
“The current setup is doomed, at least so far as higher education is
concerned. Thirty years from now the big university campuses will be
relics. Universities won’t survive. . .”

12. Each new instrument—blackboard, radio, motion picture and
television, was labeled the most important advancement since
Gutenberg’s printing press.
But from the start of new millennium, it has been claimed that
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) aids could
revolutionize education because they absorb all these earlier
innovations.
12

13. The advent of MOOCs may seem abrupt, but they are the next stage in
the development of Open Educational Resources (OERs).
From OERs evolved into Open Course Ware (OCW) and now grown into
MOOCs. More and more universities are joining this “Open Learning
Movement”.

14. In academia, innovations can be demonstrated through the
publication of articles and books, development of new learning
resources, and creation of new courses.
In 2002, the UNESCO forum coined the term Open Educational
Resources (OERs) for defining the educational content that may be
freely accessed, shared, modified, and reused.
In 2002, MIT OpenCourseWare was initiated as an OER.
14

15. In 2006, Salman Khan taught mathematics to his cousins over the
Internet.
From this OER movement, the first MOOC—Connectivism and
Connective Knowledge emerged in 2008.
At University of Manitoba, George Siemens and Stephen Downes
designed and taught this MOOC.
The seeds of this revolution are, thus, traced back to the early
introduction of Internet in 1989.
15

16. MOOCs are the newest in the line
of disruptive technologies.
Disruptive innovation is an innovation, which makes an expensive
and complex product simpler and cheaper, and thus draws new
customers.

17. Initially, there was a lot of hype and no one was quite sure what
impact MOOCs will have on the future of education.
17

18. Some MOOC platforms are:
Google Course Builder
OER University
Class2Go

19. MOOCs can be used as prerequisites and introductory
engineering courses.
They can also complement continuing professional
education (CPD) and certification preparation.
19

20. The flipped classroom can be a way of using MOOCs in engineering
courses.
Students watch video lectures at home and in classroom, time is
spent on problem solving and collaborative learning.
This model may provide teachers more time engaging students and
less time lecturing in class.
20

21. Since the number of introductory courses in mathematics, physics,
statistics, and computer programming is increasing so in future more
advanced engineering courses will be offered. Some issues in
engineering MOOCs are:
21
Laboratory
Requirements
Business
Models
Completion
Rates
Accreditation Plagiarism Pedagogy

22. 22
Launched in May 1974, AIOU is the first Open University in Asia (as
well as Africa) and second in the world.
The AIOU is the first in the country, adopting the MOOCs system which
has emerged as a popular mode of learning worldwide.
VU is Pakistan’s first University based completely on up-to-date ICT
aids.

23. Latif Ebrahim Jamal National Science Information Center (LEJNSIC)
launched “LEJ Knowledge Hub” in 2013 and it was first in the world
to have incorporated courses from various sources for instant
accessibility.
“ This is probably the most exciting project that I have
undertaken in my lifetime, as it can change the landscape of
education in Pakistan. . . ”, said Dr. Rahman while expressing his
enthusiasm about the implementation of MOOCs in Pakistan.
Highlighting the basic problem of higher education, he further
added, “……..The lack of trained faculty was a major hurdle in
educating the masses especially in developing world……
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24. American universities have begun to accept MOOCs for credit.
Antioch University was the first US institution to offer course credit for
MOOCs.
Georgia State University and San Jose State University are granting
academic credit for MOOCs.
Georgia Tech became the first university to launch a whole MOOC-based
degree.

25. In partnership with Coursera, the University of Illinois has been offering
the first open online MBA degree—iMBA.
Many universities have adopted MIT Micro-Masters model.
This trend of integrating MOOC learning with the traditional education is
now thriving and institutions have been discovering ways to develop the
MOOC system.

26. Malaysia has become the first country in the world to develop a
national policy on credit transfer for MOOCs.
The Indian University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued
guidelines for its MOOC platform, the Study Webs of Active
Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM).
The Gazette of India has guaranteed credit mobility for MOOCs as,
“No university shall refuse any student for credit mobility for the
courses earned through MOOCs”.
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27. Before the advent of MOOCs, a small group of teachers
and administrators used to discuss subjects like retention,
pedagogy and assessment.
But such topics are under discussion now and educational research
is being emphasized.
MOOCs have increased the awareness about the future of
education.
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28. Despite their advantages, small number of people from developing
countries like Pakistan access MOOCs.
Low literacy rate, lack of infrastructure, and digital divide hinder
the implementation of MOOCs in Pakistan.
However, using online courses, our universities/DAI can provide
Pakistani youth quality education.
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