Massive open online courses in Brazil in the context of the internationation of higher education

Abstract

The article analyzes the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), considering its aims and objectives and the discussions on the topic of the internationalization of higher education. MOOCs have recently emerged in Canada in 2008, linked to the principles of so-called Open Educational Resources (OER) and information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a means of disseminating knowledge in an open and free way. MOOCs are being inserted in Brazilian higher education institutions under the influence of certain international university experiences. The research methodology is based on an exploratory review of the literature, and its examination based on studies and trends in the internationalization of education. Despite the different economic and institutional motivations of the process of internationalization of higher education, the MOOCs initially
appeared as a proposal of a more strictly scientific and academic character, but organically articulated to the current practice of a strictly economic proposal of internationalization of education.