36: Online Learning in Higher Education

The Academic Citizen

Online learning takes the form of a virtual classroom in which students from across the globe can watch, listen to a lecture at a time convenient to them, at their own pace. It allows participants to interact with one another and engage with resources in work groups. The University of Cape Town offers a, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed for self-directed distance learning that offers free online courses with no entry requirements. According to UCT's Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching website, the content of the MOOC is as innovative as the technology used to disseminate it. The idea behind the course is to examine the intersection of medicine, medical anthropology and the creative arts. Dr Nosipho Mngomezulu, spoke at length with Susan Levine, an Associate Professor of Anthropology in the School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Cape Town to find out more about online learning, with particular emphasis MOOC. Produced, edited, scheduled and researched by Simbarashe Honde