In Class Central’s end of the year analysis for the MOOC space, we noted that regional MOOC providers were picking up steam. Around 25% of the new MOOC learners added in 2016 were attracted by regional providers that offer courses in languages other than English.

It looks like we missed one major regional MOOC provider in our analysis: MéxicoX, which has over one million registered learners. It’s a MOOC platform backed by Mexican government.

This is part one of a two-part series, in which we take a deeper look at MéxicoX. The information was provided by the Digital Learning Ecosystem, part of the General Directorate of Educational Television, who manages MéxicoX Platform.

When was MéxicoX launched? Why was it created and who is funding it?

MéxicoX was launched June 23, 2015, at the Virtual Educa Meeting, in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. At the meetings of Virtual Educa, educational policies and practices from Latin America and the Caribbean are presented in order to highlight how quality and coverage promotes social inclusion and sustainable development.

MéxicoX is funded by Mexico’s Ministry of Education, and it is managed by the General Directorate of Educational Television (Dirección General de Televisión Educativa from the Ministry of Education) in coordination with the National Digital Strategy.

One of the five objectives of the National Digital Strategy is “Quality Education,” which integrates ICTs into the educational process. A strategy of this objective is to “Expand [the] range of educational services through digital means.” The MéxicoX platform for Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs) has been developed due to this strategy.

Related

• XuetangX: A Look at China’s First and Biggest MOOC Platform
• EduOpen: a new MOOC Provider Funded by the Italian Government
• The MOOC Platform with a Twist: The Emergence of UK-Based FutureLearn

How many employees does MéxicoX have? Where are the offices located?

MéxicoX has no more than fifteen employees and the offices are located at the General Directorate of Educational Television, in Mexico City. The MéxicoX platform is stored at the Sistema de Información y Gestión Educativa (SIGED), run by the Ministry of Education. This system is in charge of the necessary mechanisms for the platform’s operation, development, strengthening, and continual improvement. It includes statistics, census, and registration information of the platform’s users and courses. This web portal provides, besides broadband service, access to open data. Personal data protection is available to educational authorities, researchers, students, and society in general.

How many university partners MéxicoX have?

MéxicoX has more than 40 partners (universities and institutions from the Federal Public Administration) and we are still growing. We have a couple of international partners, such as the Universidad Internacional de la Rioja. Our plans are to expand the platform across Central and South America.

How many courses are being offered? How do you decide which courses to offer?

We have offered more than 140 MOOCs (archived, current, and “starting soon” courses). The completion rate is 73.25% for SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses) and 18.13% for MOOCs. The average is 27.18%.
We defined six major strategic lines covering the content of the courses, in accordance with the National Development Plan:

1. Fundamental academic skills.
2. Specialized skills.
3. Teacher training skills.
4. National challenges.
5. Global challenges.
6. Promotion of art, culture and for the enjoyment of knowledge.

Which are the most popular courses for MéxicoX?

TOP 10 MéxicoX MOOCs

1. Redacción para todos from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
2. Finanzas para emprendedores from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
3. Introducción a los Ambientes Virtuales de Aprendizaje from Dirección General de Educación Superior para Profesionales de la Educación (DGESPE)
4. Algebra Lineal from Teconológico Nacional de México (TecNM)
5. Piérdele el miedo a las mates from Teconológico Nacional de México (TecNM)
6. Iniciación al uso de hojas de cálculo en el aula con Microsoft Excel  from Microsoft
7. Álgebra Lineal from Teconológico Nacional de México (TecNM)
8. Cálculo Diferencial from Teconológico Nacional de México (TecNM)
9. Informática en la vida moderna from Teconológico Nacional de México (TecNM)
10. Aritmética y principios de Álgebra from Teconológico Nacional de México (TecNM)

How many users does MéxicoX have?

At the moment, MéxicoX has 1,083,072 users (February 21st, 2017). Eighty-five percent of that total comes from Mexico. Of the 15% of users not located in Mexico, 10% are in Colombia, Perú, Spain and Argentina; the remaining 5% are in the rest of the world.

For many MOOC platforms, they find that most of their users already have a degree. Is that true for MéxicoX too?

USERS’ LEVEL OF EDUCATION INFOGRAPHIC (February 21 st, 2017)

What other demographic information is available about MéxicoX users — i.e. age and gender?

AGE INFOGRAPHIC (February 21st 2017)

GENDER INFOGRAPHIC (February 21st, 2017)

I understand that MéxicoX is built upon Open edX. Have any modifications been made to the platform?

Yes, we have developed:

● a reporting system that gives us better insights on the information in the platform;
● a web service for allied institutions to register and enroll users from their platforms; and
● an independent front end, in order to allow different institutions and/or countries to use the platform with their own branding yet share the available courses.

Can you get certificates or earn credits for taking courses on MéxicoX? If you can receive credits, are these credits transferable between universities?

No, you can’t get certificates or earn credits for taking courses on MéxicoX. We extend a proof of participation to the users who finish a course with an acceptable average. We are working diligently to align our MOOCs to universities’ curriculum.

The platform is still very young.