Erika Hairston shares her 9/11 memories with Muriel Bailey from WAFF 48 News. "It was extremely scary not being able to contact my loved ones," she said.

Thirteen years ago, militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. On that day - September 11, 2001 - which has come to be known as "9/11" -  two of the four airplanes hijacked were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.

As an institution with an international enrollment, students and employees at Oakwood University have vivid memories of the events of 9/11.

Reporter Muriel Bailey from Huntsville's NBC affiliate stations - WAFF-48, interviewed Mrs. Erika Hairston, accountant. Erika said:

"My sister was in the NYPD police academy on 9/11. She and all of her classmates were put immediately on active duty that day, and worked around the clock for weeks and months thereafter. With that kind of on-the-job training, they never returned to the classroom. They later graduated in March 2012 once things settled down.

My brother worked in Manhattan a few blocks from the WTC. He'd just come out of the subway when he looked up and saw the second plane hit. He said he was looking at the building and realized it was going to fall. He ran toward the water, away from the building. He ended up covered in debris. He took the ferry over to Staten Island and stayed with a coworker until he could get home the next day.

All communication was down in NY. No phone calls were going through. I knew my brother worked in the neighborhood, and I had no idea where my sister's class was that day, as they would be at the shooting range some days and in different locations for specialized training. It was extremely scary not being able to contact my loved ones.

As it turned out, my brother and sister were both fine but one of our church members, a girl I grew up with, died in the WTC that day. She worked there."

The Oakwood University family will observe a moment of silence in memory of the 9/11 attacks during the University Chapel service on September 11 at 9:50 a.m.

Dr. Keith Burton hopes this course will attract a variety of learners. "Canvas Network's MOOC platform has the potential to draw students from through the world to participate in an instructive dialogue."

Although Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been shaking up higher education since 2012 by offering free courses to students anywhere in the world, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been notably absent from MOOC platforms, until now.

Canvas Network and the Center for Excellence in Distance Learning (CEDL) at Wiley College announced a new MOOC developed by Dr. Keith Augustus Burton of CEDL member institution Oakwood University, "Understanding World Religions: An Occupational Approach." Enrollment is free, and anyone can register at www.canvas.net.

This MOOC is the product of innovation-focused collaboration between Oakwood University and the Center for Excellence in Distance Learning at Wiley College, which promotes greater sharing of resources and best practices in online education among the HBCU community.

"On behalf of all the members of the Center for Excellence in Distance Learning at Wiley College, we are proud to be standard-bearers for educational innovation in the HBCU community with the introduction of its first massive open online course," said Dr. Haywood L. Strickland, president and CEO of Wiley College. "We recognize the substantial contributions of Canvas Network in providing a superior platform that will make Dr. Burton's MOOC and scholarship freely available to students across the globe."

Dr. Burton is the director of the Center for Adventist-Muslim Relations at Oakwood University.