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Having watched the video clip where Martin Weller (2012) interviews George Siemens and Dave Cormier about the range of issues concerning MOOCs as well as the additional articles about Activity 12, I got a mixed feeling about whether the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) would be ideal as an educational approach in Uganda. Based on the challenges of education in all sections and levels in Uganda, which include lack of school fees, lack of structures, long distances to school, lack of library facilities, lack of staff and technological facilities, MOOCs would come in handily to avail opportunities to those that cannot afford conventional education either online or face-to-face. This is because they are often free, user-friendly, and allow learners to choose appropriate time and content.

However, literature mainly from America and Europe indicate that MOOCs face challenges which compromise academic quality. This is mainly regarding academic rules and regulations, content, assessment, course designs design and pedagogical approaches. George Siemens argues that MOOCs would not address the academic rigor that is required for academic quality. He urges specific countries to finance the education sector to enable the ideal standards of higher education which is characterized by research/innovations, teaching and community service. Otherwise, through MOOCs, academia has turned out to be like other industries like Music and business. The Top Ed-Tech trends of 2014 pessimistically present MOOCs as a failure that cannot promote learning but disruption that promotes profit, union-busting, and outsourcing.  

About Uganda, despite the above challenges, I would still recommend MOOCs as an educational approach because I consider the above challenges as room for improvement which if run in Uganda, such problems can be foreseen and avoided. While the challenges have been identified in America and Europe as presented in the literature, to Uganda as a developing country still drawn in challenges of lack, MOOCs are still ideal. It is better to have MOOCs for they cover the educational gap and besides, education is not just about content, it is socialization that creates social, cultural and economic capitals. Besides, most learners that enroll in MOOCs often have prior qualifications and MOOCs serve as professional development to update knowledge and skills. I once enrolled for a MOOC run by Authoraid on Research methodology and writing skills. Due to hassles of life and workload, I too dropped out, I did not do the exam nor got a badge. However, I learn a lot, about new research software for data collection, analysis and referencing. Some of these were free and I downloaded them, practiced and since then, my research teaching research methods improved. I also learnt about the possibilities of learning online, using various educational technologies. Before the MOOC, this was a huge monster to confront.  Being international, learners benchmark skills, develop professional networks that can improve practice and national service and development.

In conclusion, despite the challenges of MOOCs that have been identified in the West, we in developing countries need them and they can continue to supplement conventional education. Besides, they also act as a transitional journey to online education. As I observed, I dropped out of a MOOC, but this was a foundation for my interest in the online course, besides the numerous education technologies I learned and still us.