scholarly journals Educating at Scale for Sustainable Development and Social Enterprise Growth: The Impact of Online Learning and a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Calvo ◽  
Fergus Lyon ◽  
Andrés Morales ◽  
Jeremy Wade

The solutions to the grand challenges of sustainability, poverty, and health affecting the world will require education and capacity building for all individuals implementing change on a global scale. The challenge ahead is to reach those missed by traditional education and support networks. Online Learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to build knowledge and share best practice experiences among individuals worldwide. This paper examines the case of the FutureLearn Social Enterprise Program, a series of MOOCs with over 50,000 registered learners, of which 15% become active learners, engaging in online exercises, debates, and conversations. This paper draws on quantitative and qualitative data collected over four years. The findings show that the course has not only had an impact on the creation of new startup social enterprises, but it has also supported a large proportion of learners in developing sustainability and social entrepreneurial ideas within a range of organisations in the public, private, and civil society sectors. The findings also show a positive cascading impact effect from the learners registered on the course to those in their network, as ideas are shared, and learners become mentors to others. Our conclusions demonstrate how digital education and online courses contribute to global education for sustainable development and social enterprise development.

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nourhan F. Wasfy ◽  
Enjy Abouzeid ◽  
Asmaa Abdel Nasser ◽  
Samar A. Ahmed ◽  
Ilham Youssry ◽  
...  

Abstract Background With the strike of Covid-19, an unprecedented rapid shift to remote learning happened worldwide with a paradigm shift to online learning from an institutional adjuvant luxury package and learner choice into a forced solo choice. This raises the question of quality assurance. While some groups have already established standards for online courses, teaching and programs yet very little information is included on methodology of their development and very little emphasis is placed on the online learning experience. Nevertheless, no work has been done specifically for medical education institutions. Aim To develop a set of descriptors for best practice in online learning in medical education utilizing existing expertise and needs. Methods This work utilizes a qualitative multistage approach to identify the descriptors of best practice in online learning starting with a question guided focus group, thematic analysis, Delphi technique and an expert consensus session done simultaneously for triangulation. This was done involving 32 institution in 19 countries. Results This materialized into the development of a set of standards, indicators, and development of a checklist for each standard area. The standard areas identified were organizational capacity, educational effectiveness, and human resources each of which listed a number of standards. Expert consensus sessions identified the need for qualification of data and thus the development of indicators for best practice. Conclusion Standards are needed for online learning experience and their development and redesign is situational and needs to be enhanced methodologically in axes that are pertaining to the needs of the education community. Taking such axes into consideration by educators and institutions will lead to planning and implementing successful online learning activities, while taking them into consideration by the evaluators will help them conduct comprehensive audits and provide stakeholders with highly informative evaluation reports.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raniah Samir Adham ◽  
Karsten Oster Lundqvist

Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the Arab World are still in their infancy. Many Arab countries are now starting to launch their MOOC platforms; however, there are only a few who have actually implemented such systems. This paper will explore online learning, in particular the rise of MOOCs around the world and their impact on the Arab World. The purpose of this paper is to give a true picture of the development of the first MOOC platforms in the Arab World. It will analyse in detail the concept, definitions, background, and types of MOOCs (xMOOCs and cMOOCs), as well as the main MOOCs platform in the Western and Arab worlds, and a timeline of the development of MOOCs. It will then observe the status of MOOCs in the developed world, opportunities in the Middle East, and the influence of Western MOOCs on the Arab world, from many perspectives, e.g. educational, religious, cultural and social.


Author(s):  
Riana Mardina

Revolusi industri 4.0 memacu kemunculan perkuliahan berbasis digital. Perguruan tinggi dapat mengantisipasi revolusi industri 4.0 dengan mengembangkan pendidikan tinggi jarak jauh atau terbuka yang dapat diimplementasikan dalam tiga model, yaitu: pembelajaran sepenuhnya online learning; blended learning, atau dikombinasikan dalam mata kuliah. Model pembelajaran MOOCs (massive open online courses) dapat dijadikan pilihan untuk pendidikan terbuka (open education). Inti utama model pembelajaran MOOCs adalah kolaborasi dan konektivitas. Pustakawan berperan untuk mendukung dan memfasilitasi model pembelajaran MOOCs. Pustakawan embedded adalah bagian komunitas model pembelajaran MOOCs dan harus berkolaborasi,menjalin hubungan erat dengan mahasiswa dan dosen. Pustakawan embedded dan model pembelajaran MOOCs memiliki esensi sama yaitu komunitas dan kolaborasi. Penguasaan teknologi informasi, online learning, literasi informasi sebagai kapasitas untuk menghadirkan pustakawan embedded dalam mencapai keberhasilan model pembelajaran MOOCs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-31
Author(s):  
Olha Seleznоva ◽  
Olena Boiko ◽  
Victoria Bondar

Introduction. Modern development of socio-economic sector makes adjustments to market environment. Enterprises require expansion of their activities and feel necessity to diversify risks. Satisfaction of consumer needs is accompanied by introduction of innovations in various areas. Focusing on marketing 3.0, when market activity should not only ensure enterprise’s profitability, but also care about consumer and environment, is embracing more and more enterprises and becoming modern business responsibility. Therefore, the problem of social entrepreneurship research in context of sustainable development is becoming relevant and important. Aim and tasks. The main aim of this work is to formulate theoretical means for social entrepreneurship research, which should reveal peculiarities of tools to achieve global goals of sustainable development. To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been solved in this study: analysis of definitions and study the essence of “social entrepreneurship” concept; interconnection of social entrepreneurship goals with global goals of sustainable development and compliance with modern concept of marketing 3.0. Results. Research of “social enterprise” definition allows to define it as stable business structure, tended to self-development, which forms mechanism of social support and infrastructure development through close integration into social system. Social entrepreneurship is aimed at solving social problems and other goals of marketing 3.0. Social enterprise is considered in context of sustainable development, which is a concept that requires balance between satisfying current needs of people and protecting interests of future generations, ensuring their necessity for safe and healthy environment, and it must be able to contribute to global goals of sustainable development at local level. Conclusions. Social enterprises have become an acceptable mechanism for solving socio-economic problems, as they are developing and expanding new tools to achieve global goals of sustainable development at local level. Social  entrepreneurship has opportunity to involve socially vulnerable groups in public life and expand citizens’ activity. Social entrepreneurship today is aimed at positive social changes and providing basic human needs in an optimal way.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Khalid Mahmood Iraqi ◽  
Tehmina Faisal

Women are around 51% of the total population of Pakistan, and they can do miracles through their active participation in economic activities of the country. Empowering women means accrediting half of the population for sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to examine and analyze the impact of active women participation in the social enterprise sector for their empowerment, and its subsequent consequences in creation of social value in society. For this purpose, primary data has been collected through random and snowball sampling to gain insight into female practitioner’s perspective. The paper highlights women empowerment as a multi-dimensional phenomenon based on four dimensions: psychological, social, economic and political empowerment. It prime focus on active participation in the social enterprise’s sector may lead to increase in enablement of women, the data shows that majority of female entrepreneur responded that they feel psychologically empowered and have financial contribution in household expenses and in community welfare. Secondly, the paper identifies the major challenges including concern of safety and security, lack of access to financial opportunities and social acceptance of the project that restrict women entrepreneurs from progress and creation of social value. Thirdly, it intends to construct framework for recommendations to promote women social enterprises in Pakistan for sustainable development as a whole.


Author(s):  
Daniel B. Cornfield

This chapter considers the pathways to becoming an artistic social entrepreneur. Previous research on social entrepreneurs has emphasized the impact of one's stock of human, social, and cultural capital on one's mobilization of requisite resources for launching and sustaining a social enterprise. Less sociological attention has been given to the influence of career-biographical factors, such as family, religion, education, and pivotal career turning points that may inspire and compel one to become a social entrepreneur and to envision and shape one's social enterprise, let alone an artistic social enterprise. The profiles of four artistic social entrepreneurs in this chapter illustrate how their strategic and risk orientations and career pathways shape the social enterprises they envision and influence their assumption and enactment of their roles as artist activists.


Author(s):  
Anja Herrmann-Fankhänel

Socially sustainable development can be driven by individuals, entrepreneurs, growing start-ups, and international companies. As social entrepreneurs, people opt for a form of organization that contributes to social improvement through entrepreneurial means. The question is: How do they do it? The resource dependence approach (RDA) assumes that all decisions and activities of a (social) enterprise are based on information about its environment. Therefore, the four key components of the social enterprise (individual, organization, social innovation, market orientation) must be appropriate. In this chapter, therefore, social enterprises are outlined as active participants and shapers of the economy and society. Since an active improvement with regard to socially sustainable development is focused by the social enterprises in Africa, a description of the social enterprise's environment is also given within the framework of topical focuses. The goal is to derive recommendations about action for social enterprises to achieve their goals.


Author(s):  
Clare Lade ◽  
Paul Strickland ◽  
Elspeth Frew ◽  
Paul Willard ◽  
Sandra Cherro Osorio ◽  
...  

This chapter examines the ways in which teaching and training in tourism, hospitality and events have evolved and adapted to the contemporary demands of academia and industry. It explores the development of education in tourism, hospitality and events, the contemporary factors which influence teaching and learning, and discusses the rise of Massive Open Online Courses with a particular focus on their potential application within tourism, hospitality and events curriculum. The chapter concludes by providing an overview of Open Badges and their importance in education. At the time of writing, the world has been confronted by the Covid-19 global pandemic which has caused great disruption at all levels. The impact of Covid-19 is briefly addressed in this chapter as the enforcement of social distancing measures has led to a significant increase globally in online education.


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