Le MOOC conquers France

Nieuws | de redactie

4 september 2013 | The choice of online educational resources is not yet overwhelming, but France is definitely taking steps on the MOOC-path. Even the traditional Sorbonne “Paris 1” is venturing online and a French version of the Khan Academy was launched this week.

Francophone students, or those aiming to learn French while mastering mathématiques, can now subscribe to a couple of free online classes. On offer are topics like project management, ecology, law and math.

Interestingly, newspaper Le Figaro claims that of last year’s MOOC subscribers, 50% received a degree. “Against less than 10% on average in the U.S”, Le Figaro adds delicately.

In a country where your career still heavily depends on the school you had the opportunity to attend, MOOCs really have a truly revolutionizing potential.

Math and Miserables

Currently the prestigious école d’ingénieur Centrale Lille offers a course on project management; the Parisian l’Ecole Polytechnique throws in three at once through the Coursera platform; l’Ecole de droit de la Sorbonne de l’Université “Paris 1” offers the general public a course on business structures.

From today on, the famous Khan Academy also offers it’s math classes in French. Incidentally Khan Academy also offers courses on topics other than math, so pretty soon the French students will be able to learn about “The Miserables”.