At Case Western Reserve University, teaching and learning are at the heart of all we do. While most typically think of that happening in a traditional classroom setting, there are several ways to learn at CWRU. During the month of November, we’ll highlight just a few of the ways to engage with learning at the university.
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) provide individuals with the opportunity to take classes from top universities—including Case Western Reserve University—at little-to-no cost, no matter where they are physically located. Participants are able to learn from CWRU faculty members alongside peers from around the world as they delve into a variety of topics like “Becoming a Sports Agent” and “Introduction to International Criminal Law.”
CWRU offers a four-course specialization and capstone in inspired leadership as well as five individual courses. CWRU’s 10 MOOCs have had approximately 2 million visitors.
In some cases, MOOCs at CWRU have translated into in-person experiences. In 2016, a group of students from the Case School of Engineering and the Weatherhead School of Management traveled to Namibia to install solar light panels in a village through a connection with a MOOC participant in the “Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies” taught by Michael Goldberg, associate professor of design and innovation. Watch a video of the collaboration. The trip was so successful that an increased number of students visited Tanzania on a similar trip.
Additionally, CWRU campus undergraduates benefitted from relationships built with MOOC students that resulted in an innovative SAGES course in which they were teamed up with a cohort of students from Syria. That course gave them an opportunity to view how the concepts they were learning in class impacted entrepreneurial efforts in the real world and had a transformational impact on their overall world view.