The popularity of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) has given rise to the establishment of virtual universities. While online learning is preferred because of its ability to address issues of access, inclusion, flexibility and costs, it shapes conceptualizations of knowledge and dissemination patterns related to what is meant by knowledge. This means that the use of open education resources and practices are seen as potentially revolutionizing contemporary teaching and learning, wherein the promise is universal access to knowledge. This can be seen in the ongoing shifts in research, curriculum design, and pedagogical practices that are conceptualized popularly as digital learning.

This paper builds upon a recently initiated empirical study that focuses upon online learningand virtual universities as key spaces for contemporary learning. Its overarching aim is tounderstand these spaces in relation to the utopian promises with regards to virtual sites forlearning. The study’s first aim is to present the analytical assumptions embedded in globalNorth post human theories in relation to a global-South Indian communication theory ofSadharanikaran within the framework of online learning. A second aim is to explicate astudy design, including different types of data that can be relevant for analyzing some keyspaces for contemporary learning. Finally, this study presents some preliminary findings onissues, challenges and pedagogical models in online learning sites.

Two complementary theoretical perspectives, post human theories and Indian communication theory of Sadharanikaran, emphasize the “relational” as opposed to the“individual”. We argue that these theories are relevant for illuminating collaborative learning in online networked communities. Deploying a comparative stance highlights that online learning pedagogies regarding self-learning share principles related to the ancient Indian philosophy of education as acquisition of knowledge through self-realization and self-fulfillment. Taking these as points of departure, the study makes an attempt to analyze learning models as explicated by different virtual sites. These theoretical perspectives are used to illuminate directions in curriculum design, pedagogical practices and how nonlinear 

pedagogy of peer learning in online communities is conceptualized for preparing learners for lifelong learning through networks. The study design builds upon self-ethnography and non-participant online ethnography. The database that is being established in 2019 consists of official policy materials of different online courses and a university, online focus group discussions conducted in asynchronous modes in different platforms and student testimonials provided to the virtual university infocus. A scrutiny of pedagogical models of five popular MOOCs: Coursera, edX, XuetangX, Udacity and FutureLearn, are used to illuminate the basic assumptions that underlie the wider context of digitalization and open/distance learning. This together with a detailed case study of the University of the People, an online virtual institution of higher learning that operates using open educational resources and networks, enables examining how contemporary spaces of higher education address issues of access, equity and mobility through the prism of their institutional policies.

The preliminary findings identify the types of changes in the organization and formats of learning through a scrutiny of student profiles and how learning is experienced in networks; this is done specifically by focusing on peer learning and self-directed learning as an emerging and critical pedagogy. They also highlight issues and challenges faced in virtual learning sites and present practical inferences regarding policies based on the integration of Indian communication theories and post humanist approaches to education. Based on the empirical analysis, the study suggests pedagogical practices in institutional models wherein digitalization can be used to create and sustain the learning communities’ scholarship. The study thus highlights implications of policies and future directives in virtual learning sites with emphasis on collaborative networks to address the changing role of higher education globally.