The Wall Street Journal

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) must overcome some barriers to achieve the goal of democratizing education, according to a University of Pennsylvania study published Wednesday. The survey included almost 35,000 students in more than 200 countries and territories who participated in the university's 32 MOOCs provided by Coursera. Most MOOC students are well-educated young men trying to gain new career skills, the survey found. More than 80 percent of the U.S.-based MOOC students already held college degrees, while among the general U.S. population only about 30 percent have degrees. However, in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, the "educational disparity is particularly stark," with nearly 80 percent of MOOC students belonging to the richest 6 percent of the population. Men represented 56.9 percent of total MOOC students in the survey, but 64 percent in nations outside the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. To read further, please visit http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304337404579210333924340594.