During the summer and autumn 2019 the planning and preparations began for the MOOC on the theme of mediatized culture in Asia. The MOOC is designed to be part of the ALKU degree programme and will be available in UH Moodle, and additionally some of the material will be completely open access to view for anyone interested in the theme. We estimate that the course will start to run in 2020.

The MOOC focuses on mediatized culture in Asia. Asia is currently one of the most dynamic, rapidly evolving and diverse regions in the world. On a global scale, Asia’s impact particularly on the economy, high-tech research, information technology, and the arts and entertainment industry, is growing fast. Mediatization, originally a term used in Media and Communication studies, can be defined as a metaprocess, which shapes modern societies, along with other sociocultural processes such as globalization and individualization. The concept of mediatization covers various things, including the changing media environments, an increase of different media, the changing functions of old media, and new and increasing functions of digital media (Krotz 2008). The course covers various aspects of mediatization through case studies on digital culture in different Asian nations.

Currently, we are liaising with international lecturers, experts in the field of digital culture in Asia, who will contribute towards this MOOC in the form of lectures including videos and/or open access articles. Even though the platform for the MOOC will be UH Moodle, the plan is to make this educational material open access, so that for example the international experts who contribute to this course will be able to make use of them, too.

Hanna Mannila, PhD Candidate, Digiloikka Technical Assistant

Xenia Zeiler, Associate Professor, South Asian Studies, Department of Cultures