iMOOC101: Mastering American eLearning

When taking online courses at a U.S.-based university or  telecommuting for a U.S. company, foreign-bornstudents and professionals oftentimes run into pitfalls, no matter how technologicallysavvy they are in their native environments. This is because U.S. onlineenvironments tend to be based on American culture and American ways of doingthings. This may make even ordinary things confusing to non-Americans abroad.In order to better understand and master American eLearning and other U.S.virtual environments, international students and foreign-born professionalsneed to know how American universities and companies use the Internet toorganize work and study, develop and execute projects, communicate ideas,collaborate and solve organizational and technical problems. By taking thiscourse, you will learn how to enhance your cultural knowledge and assesspotential skill gaps that may hinder your online experience or negativelyimpact your performance in U.S. virtual work environments. Throughout thecourse you will systematically review competencies required for online work, cometo better understand common barriers for non-native students and professionalsin U.S. virtual work environments, learn about effective strategies and developplans for self-improvement

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to:

·        Recognize six key competency areas (domains)that you should better understand in order to master American eLearning andU.S. virtual work environments.

·        For each competency area, you’ll systematicallyreview and examine required levels of proficiency in terms of awareness,knowledge, skills and attitudes.

·        Examine how gaps in awareness, knowledge, skillsand attitudes can cause barriers to learning and work performance in AmericaneLearning and other U.S.-style virtual environments.

·        Identify and explore effective strategies, bestpractices, skill-building techniques and helpful resources that can be used toeliminate gaps and alleviate barriers; discuss those with peers across theglobe.

·        Self-assess your perceived level of mastery invarious levels of competencies, identify gaps in your awareness, knowledge,skills and attitudes and develop personal strategies for improvement.

·        As a result, perform more effectively inAmerican eLearning and U.S. virtual work environments, develop self-directedlearning skills and enhance employability skills.

The course can be used in a variety of ways. It can be taken as astand-alone course on Coursera or it can be integrated with credit-bearingcourses offered by the State University of New York’s Empire State College (seeModule 8 for details). In addition, it may be integrated with orientationcourses offered for incoming and on-campus international students by SUNY andother U.S –based universities and adopted as part of credit-bearing activitiesby international universities outside the U.S.

Download course poster.