Home Schooling
Emory medical professor Michael Kuhar’s class on addiction has reached a virtual international audience of tens of thousands of students over five years.
Kuhar’s massive open online course (MOOC), “The Addicted Brain,” is one of more than a dozen courses available to learners through a partnership between Emory and the online learning platform Coursera.
More than 65,000 learners have taken all or part of his course, says Kuhar, Candler Professor of Neuropharmacology, Yerkes researcher, and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.
“Reaching that many people is something I never dreamed would be feasible,” says Kuhar, who has taught at Emory for 23 years. “The platform is much more interactive and dynamic than I ever imagined.”
Kuhar has been intrigued to discover the impact his course has had on those in his global classroom. From comments in the course reviews:
■ “As an addict, it was very informative and helped in my decision to quit abusing drugs and to be clean and sober...”
■ “This will defnitely help me with the course I teach to 10th graders...”
■ “You’ve provided me the foundation to be at the frontier of a community initiative to help the Philippines’ War on Drugs...”
Online learners may audit Coursera classes at no charge, or pay around $49 per course to receive a certification of completion. Other health-related Emory courses offered include Ebola Virus Disease: An Evolving Epidemic; Health in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies; and Childbirth: A Global Perspective.
For a full viewing of Emory MOOC courses available to everyone, go to coursera.org/emory.
—Kimber Williams
