And Now the MOOC is Fashionable
It's enough to search for #mafash14 on Twitter to understand: Bocconi takes a step forward in the world of massive open online courses (MOOCs). Last June, the University and its teaching and innovation lab BETA published the Financing and Investing in Infrastructure course on the Coursera platform. It was a success, with a retention rate higher than the average of the online education website. Now SDA Bocconi School of Management has joined on board and a new MOOC is on the launch pad: Managing Fashion and Luxury Companies (#mafash14 on Twitter), held by Erica Corbellini and Stefania Saviolo, will start on 3 October. It's the first fashion course ever hosted by Coursera and it can be attended for free by anyone, no matter their age, sex, class, education. So far it's been booked by 20,000 people living in 157 different countries. Most of them (18%) are from the U.S., 53% are female, 44% are aged 20-29. They're going to follow online lectures for five weeks, discuss the lessons' content on a forum, work three or four hours a week, pass an evaluation based on quizzes, face peer-to-peer valuation, and finally earn a certificate.
The lecture videos, in English with English subtitles, are the core of the MOOC. «It's been a challenge», says Stefania Saviolo, head of the Luxury and Fashion Knowledge Center at SDA Bocconi. «Before filming we had to revise our educational purpose. The attention of the online viewers decreases after five minutes. We had to retain it by being focused, accurate, concise. We chose case-studies familiar to people from all over the world». A MOOC is not your average e-learning program. Students will answer questions and polls in real time, interact with teachers and with each other. Knowledge is fed by confrontation and Saviolo expects students to give a significant contribution to the course. There's also an ethical side to it. «We share contents with people all over the world. Many of them cannot afford to attend a top ranking university. It's revolutionary, isn't?».
The course aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the global fashion and luxury business. «It's meant for everyone who's interested in fashion as a business: managers, Economy and Fashion students, consumers», says Erica Corbellini, Director of the Master in Fashion, Experience & Design Management. Thinking fashion as craftsmanship is diminishing. Students will learn that fashion has a cogent business logic and will discover that its brands are trailblazers in the new media and social networks arena. The course has also an implicit message: «The University gives you the keys to understand the world. And if you understand it, you will rule it and not be ruled». The experience has inspired blended learning practices: Corbellini will show MOOC videos to her students. «Furthermore, MOOC has made me a better teacher».