On May 18th, the Amazing World of the Ethnic Groups of Yunnan Province, a course of associate professor YANG Yan and her team at KUST, was successfully added to the Coursera platform after being reviewed by international experts and the platform team. Relying on the course platform of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, this course is the first massive open online course (MOOC) in Yunnan Province to go on the Coursera platform in the United States, which further enhances the internationalization process of the online courses of KUST.
Initiated and established by Stanford University in 2012, the Coursera platform, along with edX and Udacity, is known as the MOOC Top Three. Coursera is mainly dedicated to promoting the high-quality courses of American Ivy League universities. Through continuous exchanges and cooperation with higher education institutions worldwide, the Coursera platform has nearly 40 million registered users. It is one of the largest online education platforms in the world, with alliances that include Yale University, the University of Michigan, and top universities and companies including Google and IBM.
The Amazing World of the Ethnic Groups of Yunnan Province introduces 25 ethnic groups with a population of over 5,000 in Yunnan: the culture of the Yi, Bai, Hani, Dai, Zhuang, Miao, Hui, Lisu, Lahu, Wa, Naxi, Yao, Jingpo, Tibetan, Bulang, Buyi, Achang, Pumi, Mongol, Nu, Jinuo, De 'ang, Shui, Manchu, and Dulong. Learners can appreciate the folk customs of each ethnic group’s geographical location, population distribution, language and writing, clothing and diet, festivals and holidays, religious beliefs, literature and art, and other aspects. As an English general education course, this course combines English language learning with cultural literacy, cultivates learners' ability to introduce and communicate China's ethnic minorities’ culture in English, builds cultural confidence, enhances cultural self-awareness, and deepens national sentiment. Since October 2020, the course has been online on three domestic MOOC platforms: the MOOC of Chinese Universities, University Open Online Courses and the Top Chinese University MOOCs Alliance. In addition, from March 2021, this course has been open to all undergraduates and postgraduates as an extended optional course. The course team is also actively exploring a new online and offline hybrid teaching mode.
In recent years, KUST has implemented the spirit of "Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Deepening the Reform of Undergraduate Education and Improving the Quality of Talent Cultivation in an All-round Way", actively developed the idea of "Internet + Education", promoted the deep integration of information technology and education, and issued a number of policies to encourage the construction and application of high-quality MOOC, thus forming a positive trend of educational modernization, and actively promoting the existing courses at home and abroad.
Links of The Amazing World of the Ethnic Groups of Yunnan Province:
Coursera:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/ethnic-yunnan
Top Chinese University MOOCs Alliance:
https://www.cnmooc.org/portal/frontCourseIndex/course.mooc?keyWord=%25E5%25BD%25A9%25E4%25BA%2591%25E5%258D%2597
MOOC of Chinese Universities：
https://www.icourse163.org/course/KMUST-1461119171
University Open Online Courses：
http://www.uooc.net.cn/course/227813003
Translated by:LU Xiaoling, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures
Edited by:CHEN Chunli, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures (English)
Source: Division of Teaching Administration, Information Technology Center and Faculty of Foreign Languages and Cultures
Issued by: Division of Overseas Cooperation (English)
Edited by: KUST News Center (Chinese)
