This week’s Economist has a terrific article on MOOCs in Brazil, plus a leader explaining how fundamental economic, social and technological change is reshaping higher education the world over. The two pieces are essential reading for anyone interested in building a twenty-first century higher education system in Myanmar. I’m grateful to my friend James Greenbury for bringing them to my attention.

The leader notes that three key drivers are transforming higher education globally. The first is rising cost, experienced notably in the developed world. The second is shifting demand, as the traditional mode of university attendance at 18-21 gives way to a more variegated pattern of lifelong learning. The third is disruptive technology, in the guise of the internet and especially the MOOCs it spawned in 2008. “The internet, which has turned businesses from newspapers through music to book retailing upside down, will upend higher education.”

I’ve written before about MOOCs, looking both at their enormous potential, and at difficulties in delivering on it. What I didn’t know is that one of the world champions in pushing the technological envelope is Brazil. The Economist focuses on two for-profit firms in its higher education sector: Kroton and Anhanguera, the company Kroton is in the process of buying. “‘Quality [in education] is easy,’ says Rodrigo Galindo, Kroton’s energetic young boss. ‘And so is quantity. What’s difficult is combining the two.’ The trick, he explains, is to abandon ‘handcrafted’ teaching methods for scalable ones: online course materials and tutors; star teachers’ lessons broadcast by satellite; tightly specified franchise agreements with hundreds of local teaching centres staffed by moderators.”

This is the winning formula: top-notch online courses complemented by frequent class meetings designed to facilitate robust student discussion and strong completion rates. Important elements of quality maintenance in Brazil are a common accreditation standard, and a national exam set by the education ministry. Each helps to ensure that a sector dominated by private providers performs to a high level.

Making the most of MOOCs is critical to revitalization of Myanmar’s universities. Used to generate a structured system of outstanding online courses supported by regular face-to-face tuition, they can play a major role in reanimating campuses throughout the country.