Entrepreneurship Learning Ecosystem for Smart Cities through MOOCs

Abstract

Started in 2008, the new Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) paradigm has brought challenges and innovation at all levels of education, aiming to respond to the most pressing learning needs, generated by the new development policies and the rapid evolution of technology. This paper reports on a project proposed by a group of universities and organizations specialized in training, research and consultancy with a view to develop and implement a learning ecosystem in entrepreneurship. The project is built on a package of MOOCs targeting the learning needs of young entrepreneurs in the context of „Smart cities and specializations” policies. The article presents the project concepts and the development and implementation steps, from MOOCs design, pilot phase, consultancy activities, impact study to proposals for national policies and accreditation. This work could be a starting point for developing new programmes and customized training courses on specific learning needs to support the „Smart cities” interventions.