MOOC-EU voor bèta
In haar presentatie van dit nieuwe initiatief zegt de voorzitter van de wereldfederatie van Open Course Ware instellingen, Anka Mulder van de TU Delft, dat er nu bij de Europese Commissie een pakket ligt namens meer dan 50 vooraanstaande universiteiten in het bèta en technische domein.
Naast Delft en de OU in Engeland doen ook de ETH in Zürich, Oxford en de KU Leuven mee aan dit OCW4STEM project. “Innovation in online education is taking place in the US, with developments such as Open Course Ware and MOOCs. Both are changing the face of higher education. What is happening in Europe?”
Momentum nu ook in EU
“Although Europe has not been at the forefront of this movement, awareness of its importance is growing also in Europe. OCW has had active practicioners in Europe for a number of years now, for example in the UK, Spain, the Netherlands and in France. A number of universities have started producing MOOCs, joined Coursera or set up an alternative platform, such as Future Learn in the UK.”
“It is important that online education gains momentum in Europe. This is why Delft University of Technology decided to develop an EU project for an academic network in the field of online education. The proposal focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Within a few months, we managed to get 50+ universities on board from 30+ countries.”
“All of these universities understand the importance of this development. The proposal was sent to the European Commission with a funding request. We don’t yet know if the request will be granted, of course. But the fact that so many universities are keen to cooperate in this field is a major step.”
Wat wil men gaan doen?
De opzet van de plannen van dit nieuwe consortium leest u hieronder
This consortium wants to address the high demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and OpenCourseWare (OCW). On the supply side we identify and organise the collection of existing courses and we look at new ways of education, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This should position Europe as leading region in the field of Open Education.
This is a large consortium with 55 partners from 31 EU countries, and 2 third countries partners. The partners include universities and associations of universities. All partners are active in the field of STEM education and support the Open Education Movement.
In this consortium we have combined the forerunners in the field of Open Education in Europe, such as the Open University UK and Delft University of Technology, with leading universities in the field of STEM, such as ETH Zurich, Oxford University, and KU Leuven.
The project has good balance between implementation and dissemination & exploitation work packages.
The implementation work packages focuses on:
-utilizing the already existing plethora of openly accessible learning materials and objects that are freely available online whether through universities’ portals or from other sources;
-the recognition, monitoring and joint degrees;
-the development of best practices for cooperation between institutions and professions;
-increasing the opportunities for women and underrepresented groups in STEM education;
-the need for students to engage with and develop skills related to professional practice of STEM subjects.
The dissemination and exploitation is focused on spreading the knowledge and experiences of this consortium via the networks of the partners to universities (their teachers and students), policy makers and Life Long Learners, such as workers and employers, from around Europe.
