MOOCs in Ecuador: an overview of courses from a Latin American perspective

Resumo

This paper presents the status of the massive open online courses at universities and other Ecuadorian institutions. Our aim is to explore the panorama to a new educational arena, which leads us to define this type of course offering in Ecuador and to analyze its evolution. We have compiled data through an exhaustive search process on the website of each Ecuadorian university on MOOC platforms. The search was conducted using Google and related key words and we requested additional information from the decision-makers responsible for the Ecuadorian MOOC platforms. The study shows the impact that the MOOCs have had in universities and in state institutions and the support of the Ecuadorian government for the development of this form of online education through modifications made to the Academic Regulation. While the offering has not increased, there is evidence of a rapid growth in the creation of this type of courses over the last few years.