Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are a recent but widely accepted e-learning initiative. World ranking universities have taken initiatives to offer diverse programs based on the learners' needs and demands. Thus, learners from different corners of the world including developed as well as developing countries are reaping benefits from MOOCs. Regardless of these benefits, Uganda as a developing country has not yet established any platform to incorporate MOOCs in her tertiary education. Additionally, there is lack of evidence to show the necessity of implementing MOOCs, more particularly from the students' perspective in Uganda's education system. In order to start finding ways to help students interested in MOOCs, there is a need to investigate how these students view and understand MOOCs. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the emerging possibilities for quality education in Uganda through MOOCs.A quantitative research approach was selected as a research methodology for this study. 74 computer discipline students from four universities in Uganda participated in a structured questionnaire that was constructed to achieve the research purposes. Quantitative descriptive analysis of the results revealed that: majority of the students found MOOCs platform to be useful in their learning contexts and they showed positive attitudes towards attaining MOOCs programs. However, the study revealed that there are not enough resources available for a successful MOOCs implementation in the country. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence for the need of MOOCs in improving access to education. The study offers recommendations for the policy makers and educators to introduce ICT policies to back-up the introduction of MOOCs in Uganda's education system as well as financing and supervising the implementation of MOOCs in Uganda.

Keywords

MOOCs · ICT · quality education · Uganda