Online courses have become hugely popular in large part because of their convenience. CFP
In the past, people could only find information from books and their teachers. For serious students, it was a dream to hear lectures from professors at top universities. The internet has changed this situation completely. Online courses offer people around the world access to global resources.
过去，人们只能通过书本和老师获得知识。听名校教授讲课是无数莘莘学子的梦想。如今，互联网彻底改变了这种情况。网课为世界各地的人们提供了全球化的资源。
On Nov 2, the Ministry of Education announced that, as of August 2019, about 270 million Chinese people had taken Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) – one of the platforms for distance education.
11月2日，教育部宣布，截至今年8月底，我国在远程教育平台慕课上的学习人数约为2.7亿。
“It means high-quality, low-cost and large-scale online learning has become the norm. A higher education revolution is spreading worldwide,” Gao Song, vice president of Peking University, told Xinhua.
“这意味着有质量、低成本的开放式大规模在线学习已可成为常态。一场全球范围的高等教育变革正在展开，”北京大学副校长高松院士在接受新华社采访时表示。
First introduced in 2006, MOOCs emerged as a popular mode of learning in 2012. Since then, top universities around the world, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, have offered MOOCs on different platforms.
慕课这一概念诞生于2006年，并于2012年成为了一种热门的学习模式。从那时起，清华、北大等世界名校都开始在不同的平台上推出慕课。
According to China Daily, China has now built an extensive MOOC network, offering around 15,000 courses in a variety of disciplines. Subjects range from physics and chemistry to Chinese traditional culture. “The wide variety of courses they offer is like a buffet, where you can pick whatever interests you, and that’s why I use MOOCs very often,” said Wang Kerui, a freshman at Beijing Normal University.
据《中国日报》报道，目前，我国已经建立起了一个广泛的慕课网络，提供涉及多种学科的约1.5万门课程。科目从物理、化学到中国传统文化不等。“慕课提供的各种各样的课程就像是自助餐，大家可以自主选择感兴趣的课程，这也是我经常使用慕课的原因，”北京师范大学的新生王科睿如此说道。
The course Introducing China in English, from Hubei University, for example, provides participants with a wide range of areas, including Chinese philosophy, traditional festivals and foods that best define Chinese culture. One foreign learner left a review on Icourse163.org: “The course helps me learn more about Chinese culture.”
比如，湖北大学的《英语畅谈中国》课程就为学习者介绍了中国哲学、传统节日以及最能代表中华文化的美食等多个领域。一位外国学习者在慕课上评论道：“这门课让我学到了更多中华文化的知识。”
The interactive and flexible learning also keeps students coming back.
此外，互动性强的灵活学习模式也吸引着学生们使用慕课。
Unlike traditional courses, students don’t need to be simply satisfied with what the teacher has taught or busily take notes of all the key points in the class. They could even learn something new or review what they learned in their spare time.
和传统课程不同，学生们可以不满足于一味地听老师讲课或者在课堂上匆匆忙忙地做笔记。他们甚至能学到一些新东西，或者在空余时间复习所学知识。
Huang Yiwei, a senior high school student from Shandong province, is a typical example. When she didn’t fully understand some complicated math problems, Huang would seek out solutions and discuss related methods with other students on the MOOC platform. “It not only improved my math studies greatly, but also gave me a chance to interact with people from all over the world,” said Huang.
来自山东省的高中生黄亦巍便是如此。当她无法完全理解一些复杂的数学问题时，她便会上慕课平台寻找解决办法，并和其他同学讨论相关方法。“这不仅令我的数学大有进步，还能让我和世界各地的人们互动，”黄亦巍说道。
