Educating at scale for sustainable development and social enterprise growth: the impact of online learning and a massive open online course (MOOC)
Article
Calvo, S., Lyon, F., Morales, A. and Wade, J. 2020. Educating at scale for sustainable development and social enterprise growth: the impact of online learning and a massive open online course (MOOC). Sustainability. 12 (8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083247
| Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Title | Educating at scale for sustainable development and social enterprise growth: the impact of online learning and a massive open online course (MOOC) |
| Authors | Calvo, S., Lyon, F., Morales, A. and Wade, J. |
| Abstract | The solutions to the grand challenges of sustainability, poverty, and health affecting the world will require education and capacity building for all individuals implementing change on a global scale. The challenge ahead is to reach those missed by traditional education and support networks. Online Learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have the potential to build knowledge and share best practice experiences among individuals worldwide. This paper examines the case of the FutureLearn Social Enterprise Program, a series of MOOCs with over 50,000 registered learners, of which 15% become active learners, engaging in online exercises, debates, and conversations. This paper draws on quantitative and qualitative data collected over four years. The findings show that the course has not only had an impact on the creation of new startup social enterprises, but it has also supported a large proportion of learners in developing sustainability and social entrepreneurial ideas within a range of organisations in the public, private, and civil society sectors. The findings also show a positive cascading impact effect from the learners registered on the course to those in their network, as ideas are shared, and learners become mentors to others. Our conclusions demonstrate how digital education and online courses contribute to global education for sustainable development and social enterprise development. |
| Keywords | education for sustainable development; MOOCs; Social Enterprise; social entrepreneurs; impact evaluation |
| Research Group | Centre for Enterprise, Environment and Development Research (CEEDR) |
| Publisher | MDPI AG |
| Journal | Sustainability |
| ISSN | |
| Electronic | 2071-1050 |
| Publication dates | |
| 16 Apr 2020 | |
| Online | 16 Apr 2020 |
| Publication process dates | |
| Deposited | 20 Apr 2020 |
| Accepted | 04 Apr 2020 |
| Output status | Published |
| Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
| Supplemental file | License File Access Level Open |
| Copyright Statement | © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083247 |
| Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85084524606 |
| Web of Science identifier | WOS:000535598700180 |
| Language | English |
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