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Nassim Chaoui Ghali is a scholar in the field of Sufism and Mysticism and a writer of several articles on distinct topics. Nassim earned an MBA in Project Management at Cardiff Metropolitan University along with a licence degree in Linguistics. He is based in Rabat and can be reached at nassimchaouighali@gmail.com [/symple_box]
Since a couple of years, Mooc trainings’ have been magnifying with high rates. In Morocco, face to face learning, also known as classroom learning, is still monopolizing the status quo.
Nowadays, training via Internet has made a tremendous change in the learning sphere owing to the emergence of Moocs (free massive online courses). Therefore, people can have free access to plenty of courses, accompanied with a paid certificate. By and large, in distinct domains, the American universities were pioneers by multiplying the courses available on the Internet (Coursera, Edx…), which receive thousands of enrollees on a daily basis. These genres of platforms enable learners to have access to an immense database of knowledge, anytime and anywhere. Notwithstanding the fact that Moocs offer no possibility to lure a certificate, the knowledge acquired through it remain valuable. The celerity through which universities, especially the American ones, have adopted such tools reveals a real and serious infatuation. Nevertheless, following Mooc remains an individual choice. Overall, enterprises which propose such genre of trainings remain few. Oftentimes, organizations opt for face to face training or a blended mixture of classroom learning and e-learning. I noticed that there are only few offers that are designated to corporations whereas the potential is great. Based on my experience, the interest of people is amplifying day after day in the presence of a plethora of platforms.
In Morocco, it is too early to talk about Mooc’s success in that AL Cadi Ayad University was the only entity which launched the first courses in various disciplines, ranging from social sciences to biology, education and engineering. Hence, the question to be raised here is that why other universities have not embraced, or at the very least shown interest about the idea.
Albeit Mooc has recognized a significant evolvement across the world, Morocco is still empanelling the traditional way as the only source of disseminating knowledge. In these times, the only way which may improve nations’ educational systems is through adopting an eclectic approach. The language teaching term “eclectic” is pertinent here since almost all modern courses utilize a mixture of approaches and methodologies. Today, we are witnessing a paradigm shift in how knowledge and skills are learned and acquired. The term paradigm shift was introduced by Thomas Kuhn in his highly influential landmark book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The word paradigm is used today to mean a model, theory, perception, assumption, or frame of reference. To elucidate it more, it is the way we see the world, not in terms of our visual sense of sight, but in terms of perceiving, understanding and interpreting the world according to Stephen R. Covey. Generally, Mooc displays a new paradigm shift in the learning field; it is a theory, an explanation or model of this new route “Mooc”.
I really harness the camp of online training, and albeit the idea is still novel in Morocco, we can prove its efficiency via job interviews and systematic follows-up along with its capacity to adapt with an environment that keeps changing permanently.
Last but not least, from my own perspective, there are three crucial building blocks which should be in place if Morocco wants to ensure a better living for next generations, namely education, training and learning.
- Education is the exposure to new knowledge, concepts and ideas in a relatively programmed way. It is normally aimed at increasing knowledge, or modifying attitudes and beliefs.
- Training includes those solutions to a learning need that involve being taught or shown a way of doing things. It is essentially skill related.
- Learning is employee need centered and starts with the individual as beneficiary.
From the aforementioned, we can see that the three criteria will lead us to knowledge, skill and attitudes, which sometimes are referred to as competences.
Eventually, in order to respond to the rapid and permanent change, Morocco must move forward to a strategic planning of continually developing competences, which will enable it to anticipate and adapt with the unexpected.
Reference List:
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 1962.
Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. 2004.
University of London, Human Resource Management, International Programs, 2013.
