The fall semester is off to a rousing start for edX.
Harvard University, which teamed with the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) to found the nonprofit online education start-up
last spring, announced that about 100,000 students signed up for its first free
online courses on computer science and an adaptation of the Harvard School of
Public Health classes in epidemiology and biostatics.
Free online offerings at MIT and the University of
California Berkeley, which joined the project over the summer, are attracting
similar interest, according to edX President Anant Agarwal in an article in The Boston Globe. In fact, MIT attracted 155,000
students for a course in circuits and electronics last spring.
The platform uses discussion groups and forums to
engage students, who can enroll in as many edX courses they like. Certificates
of completion are available to those who show they have mastered the course.
“We view this as an incredible opportunity for us to
ask deeper questions about how people learn and how we as a university help
people to learn,” Harvard Provost Alan Garber said in The Globe article.
More good news for edX followed as Bloomberg reported that the University of Texas, Austin, plans to spend up to $5 million to join
the venture.
“The UT System’s partnership with edX is great news for
Texas and exactly the type of effort I hope more schools will consider as we
aggressively pursue the goals of improving graduation rates and making a
college education more accessible and affordable,” said Texas Gov. Rick Perry
in the statement announcing the plan.
