More People Shift Toward Free Online Education

　　With rising academic fees and people's busy schedules, more and more people are shifting toward online learning programs, many of which are being offered for free.

 

　　CRI's Li Dong has more.

 

　　Mythology¹ may be the study of age-old cultures, but this classroom is anything but ancient.

 

　　Around 54,000 students around the world are currently taking this course in Greek and Roman mythology. In the studio, there's a camera, recording² equipment, computers and technical staff to help Struck, the instructor³, to record lectures and conduct live question and answer sessions with students.

 

　　The internet-based courses are known as massive, open, online classes or MOOC for short. People around the world are signing up for similar classes in their millions.

 

　　MOOCs are barely a year old, but they caught on quickly because they're generally free and save time for people hoping to learn a new subject. Students can go through the material when they have time, and there are online class chat message boards for student discussions.

 

　　In the Netherlands, one of MOOCs mythology students Fausia Abdoel says online courses make things easier than they would be in the classroom.

 

　　"It's already an online course. People are behind a computer, and they are talking to each other way more easily I have noticed than people do in, during lectures."

 

　　But as students don't earn academic credits through MOOC classes and aren't even considered official attendees at the academic institutions, the reason people enroll⁴ are often varied⁵.

 

　　Struck, the instructor of this course admits that even though he misses the personal interaction of traditional teaching, the benefit is that a greater number of people are able to learn something new.

 

　　"What we're here to do as academics is to find out new knowledge and to spread it abroad as widely as we possibly can."

 

　　While MOOCs may not be the best form of education, for students who just want well-taught basic courses online learning certainly fits the bill. Having access to prestigious⁶ professors without the $50,000 (USD) price tag is changing what it means to get an education.

 

　　Currently, China's Peking University has started cooperation with MOOC since May this year, becoming the first Asian University on this open class platform.

 

　　Ensuring that where ever you are in the world, a decent education isn't too far away.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.

1 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

4 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

5 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

6 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。