Last month my colleagues and I completed a pilot of what well may be the most interesting project of my life. It was the pilot of a new type of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) that pushes the MOOC design envelope by blending a globally transformative platform with an eco-system of deep personal, locally grounded learning communities. Below is the story and some key insights from this experiment that prototypes the 21st century university by putting the learner into the driver’s seat of profound social change.

The goal of the class, MITx U.Lab: Transforming Business, Society, and Self, is to empower change makers to co-sense and co-shape the future. This MOOC was offered through the edX platform. EdX was founded by MIT and Harvard and now includes 30-plus universities around the world. Our U.Lab MOOC included:

• >28,000 registered participants from 190 countries

• >300 prototype (action learning) initiatives

• >a vibrant eco-system of 350 self-organized hubs (pictures below)

• and 700-1000 self-organized coaching circles (of five persons each) plus

• four global live sessions with 10,000-15,000 participants/viewers each