OER Knowledge CloudJournal ArticleAdoption of MOOCs by Emerging Countries Seeking Solutions to University Overcrowding: Literature Review and Feedback from the First Scientific MOOC Held by Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdullah University - Fez, MoroccoAdoption of MOOCs by Emerging Countries Seeking Solutions to University Overcrowding: Literature Review and Feedback from the First Scientific MOOC Held by Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdullah University - Fez, MoroccoNaji, KhadijaIbriz, AbdelaliMourdi, YoussefThe adoption of various forms of distance education, particularly MOOCs (an acronym for Massive Open Online Courses), by universities worldwide has continuously gained momentum over the past decade. This is due not only to the importance of maintaining a parallel educational model alongside face-to-face courses in order to complete students’ training, but also in response to the limits of academic infrastructure faced with an increasingly large mass of learners, typically in emerging countries. Universities view MOOCs as a remedy to this dilemma—one which promises reasonable development costs—especially taking into account the ubiquity of the internet and digital communication tools. In a country such as Morocco, whose university capacity has been stretched to 186%, the quest to dematerialize lectures can support universities in producing well-rounded professional profiles as well as improving institutional and academic services overall. In this paper, we present the feedback from Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University concerning its first scientific MOOC, launched within the framework of the Maroc Université Numérique (Morocco Digital University) or MUN project in collaboration with the France Université Numérique (France Digital University) or FUN platform. The objectives of this paper are threefold: to assess the possibility of adopting further MOOCs in a Moroccan setting, to seek insight on the profiles of learners who have completed MOOCs and to draw lessons in order to improve future experiences.2020EnglishInternational Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning152278-103Morocco10.3991/ijet.v15i22.169451863-0383yesMOOCMoroccan higher educationuniversity overcrowdingemerging countries16945-60995-1-PB.pdfMorocco, Africa