This is the biggest education provider you’ve never heard of. Until now.
The Alison project—Advanced Learning Interactive Systems Online—has already signed up more than two million students to more than 500 online courses. It’s adding another 200,000 each month and founder Mike Feerick is confident this expansion (扩张) could grow even more rapidly and reach a billion students towards the end of the decade.
So how has it stayed below the radar? While the new wave of online courses—so-called Moocs, such as Coursera and edX, have become darlings of the digital media, why has Alison not the same attention?
Mr. Feerick says the big difference is who they are trying to reach. It’s the academic versus vocational (职业的) divide being played out in the digital market.
“The people we’re helping do not have a huge voice,” says Mr. Feerick. While the Moocs are associated with high-status universities, Alison’s focus is on the great numbers of people around the world needing to improve their vocational skills and training.
There are courses in subjects such as computer skills, learning English, basic accountancy building a website, food safety, introductions to legal studies. Within the coming months, India is expected to become the biggest source of learners, overtaking the UK and US. Nigeria and the Philippines are rapidly growing market.
Mr. Feerick wants to use online technology to offer free lessons in the most important basic skills that people need. As he puts it, 99% of the people are learning the same 1% of information again and again.
His other challenge to the established order is to question the necessity of exam certificates (资格). If people are studying for a specific skill, such as learning to touchtype or a language, he argues the key question is whether they can put the lessons into practice.
19. What does the underlined phrase “below the radar” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Trying to catch up. | B.Failing to attract notice. |
C.Failing to meet demands. | D.Trying to become successful. |
20. The Alison project is different from Coursera and edX in that ________.
A.it has more subjects | B.it offers free courses |
C.it doesn’t make money. | D.it focuses on basic skills |
21. What do we learn about the Alison project?
A.It aims to improve the learners’ academic scores. |
B.It is mainly supported by high-status universities. |
C.It will attract many learners in developing countries |
D.Most of its learners are from Asia at the present time |
22. Which word can best describe Mike Feerick according to the last paragraph?
A.Practical. | B.Creative. |
C.Diligent. | D.Generous. |