Dr. Keith Augustus Burton of Oakwood University says that “the good thing about MOOCs and open education resources is that it democratizes the academic process.”
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) provide an opportunity for students all over the world to take free online courses. Though most are separate from accredited degree programs, they provide access to education that may have been hard to attain otherwise.
“I think the good thing about MOOCs and open education resources is that it democratizes the academic process,” said Burton. “There may be some people who never would afford to go to the university, and this allows them to sort of get that context. And even beyond that, there may be people who can afford to go to university but [wouldn’t ordinarily take the classes offered] — this gives them an opportunity to explore” those topics in depth.
Burton’s Understanding World Religions: An Occupational Approach course is being offered through the Center for Distance Learning at Wiley College, of which Oakwood College is a member institution. The course, which is largely based on materials he uses in a similar course at Oakwood, will consist of videos, lecture outlines, discussion boards and tests that students can access on their own time, as well as a live weekly lecture Burton will conduct.
Melissa Loble, senior director of Canvas Network, which is hosting the course, said “Current events highlight how religious differences often drive deep divisions.
“But by exploring world religions through the lens of workplace diversity, this course will offer students an intriguing journey of discovery to find common ground in diverse religious beliefs and practice.”
Burton said he hopes the material in this course will encourage people to think about how differences in religious beliefs “affects other people’s walks and how we look at other people,” and will start a dialogue “that can help us develop a community.”
