The University of Southampton, along with a host of other universities, is now offering free online courses, enabling anyone to study from anywhere in the world.
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Massive open online courses, or ‘MOOCs’ as they are known, offer a free online programme designed to be studied by large numbers of participants. To take part in a MOOC, no previous experience is required, there is no admission interview, and no need to have ever studied online or even in higher education.
Others offering MOOCs in the UK include the universities of Reading, Nottingham, Queens Belfast, Birmingham, Warwick, Lancaster, as well as the Open University. Courses are available in one place, through the Open University’s new FutureLearn website.
“This represents an exciting opportunity for the University to be at the forefront of educational innovation in the UK and engage a wide community of learners,” said Professor Don Nutbeam, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton.
Offering world-class learning to millions
“I have been deeply impressed by the enthusiasm that has been observable within the University community for MOOCs, much of it inspired by a commitment to improve access to world-class learning opportunities to millions around the world who otherwise would have little or no access.”
The first MOOC offered by the University of Southampton is Web Science, which will start on November 11 – and is somewhat apt given the means of delivery. Other courses in leading subject areas will follow.
The MOOCs will last between six and eight weeks, each requiring two to three hours of study per week. Participants can either choose to complete the whole programme, or elect to dip into particular topics of interest as and when time allows.
Potential to revolutionise education
Universities and Science Minister David Willetts said that the launch of FutureLearn was an exciting development for UK learning: “FutureLearn has the potential to revolutionise conventional models of formal education,” he said.
Links
MOOCs at the University of Southampton
Wikipedia article on MOOCs. Includes analysis of the economics of MOOCs, “widely seen as part of a distruptive innovation taking place in the higher education industry”