ABSTRACT
The massive open online course (MOOC) is covered in critical analysis as well as in popular media as a development exclusively bearing on the higher education sector. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) built and offered a MOOC in partnership with a research university based in a developing country without involving the brand names usually associated with the MOOC. Professor Mohamed Ally from Athabasca University in Canada led the m-learning portion of the MOOC, while faculty from the National Institute of Banking Management (NIBM) in India, handled the section on financial inclusion. COL coordinated the participation of all non-Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) faculty. Rather than immediately influencing the higher education sector, MOOC for Development as a support technology is likely to be useful in faster diffusion of intermediate skills on a mass scale. In MOOC for Development practice, online educational materials and resources are likely to be a core technology rather than the sole technology.
