Developing a Framework to Evaluate the Potential of Global Learning in MOOCs

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have rapidly emerged as a new platform for online learning. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) must now determine if MOOC courses should be accepted as course credit. The authors propose a framework for determining if a MOOC course helps students develop the 21(st) century skills promoted through global learning. This framework is centered on the conditions for global learning - i.e. a process of diverse people collaboratively analyzing and addressing problems that transcend borders - and facilitated through the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model. Any course that attends to these aspects should produce global learning outcomes that fall within one or more of the following three categories: learning about the world, learning with others, and learning to act.