Have you ever thought of taking a course from one of world’s top universities, at little cost?

EDITOR’S NOTE: Another in a series of ideas from Dr. Peter Tsigaris, professor of economics at Thompson Rivers University.

By Dr. PETER TSIGARIS

Have you ever thought of taking a course from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UBC, McGill and many more top universities, with many other students around the world, while you are at home, and even earn a certificate to put on your wall?

It is possible. There is a revolution in the delivery of post-secondary education. It is called MOOCs. M stands for “Massive” as there are no limits to enrolment in a course, O for “Online” as it is delivered via the Internet, another O for “Open” as it is free for anyone to take, and C for “Course.” Here are two well known MOOCs to explore:

• Coursera at www.coursera.org
• Edx at www.edx.org

Explore the new world of education. You will be amazed at the amount and variety of courses that are available for you to take.

The MOOCs mission is to make higher education open, inexpensive, engaging and of high value. They believe higher education is a basic human right. The MOOCs want to empower individuals around the globe with knowledge and skills.

Knowledge is a global public good. It is non-rival, meaning that my consumption of it does not reduce your consumption. We can both enjoy the benefits of knowledge together and also create new knowledge!

It is also non-excludable, meaning that no one can be easily excluded from consuming it once it is available. The benefits of the global public good accrue to everyone just like cleaner air benefits everyone.

Furthermore, technology has allowed knowledge to be supplied at a very low cost, something that was not possible in the past.

I always wanted to be a student again and I am very excited that the MOOCs have given me the opportunity to do just that.

I have completed numerous courses over the last two years and plan to take even more. I hope you enjoy the new adventure if you decide to undertake such an endeavour.

(For TED talk by Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller, link here.)