University of Adelaide announces edX partnership

Thursday, 19 June 2014

The University of Adelaide has joined edX, one of the world's leading online course platforms, as a full contributing member and already has four Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in development.

Under the name of AdelaideX, the University of Adelaide will develop a number of MOOCs, showcasing its excellence and expertise across a range of disciplines.

"This step is an important affirmation of our belief that blended learning and flexible delivery are key requirements for today's students," said Professor Pascale Quester, University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic).

In 2012, the University of Adelaide embarked on an ambitious journey to transform its unique learning proposition.

"One of the many attractions of edX is the availability of these MOOCs to enhance the experience of our on-campus students," said Professor Quester. "In some cases, it will enable us to dedicate even more time to classroom interaction as part of our small group discovery experience, which will add another dimension to our unique learning proposition.

"Delivering a highly personalised learning experience to students, where small group discovery means face-to-face interaction with active researchers and other students, actually requires that a lot of the content be available online," said Professor Quester.

"This way, students can acquaint themselves with the content ahead of class and make the most of getting together with other students and instructors.

"We see edX as a key plank in this strategy, as several large introductory courses will be available for our on-campus students as well as for large numbers of students worldwide," she said.

Professor Quester said that MOOCs have created significant new potential for global learning.

"Membership of edX helps us fulfil our promise to offer top quality educational opportunities to students from all over the world, regardless of their background and wealth," she said.

"Ironically, it is 21st century technology that now underpins the University of Adelaide's capacity to deliver on one of our founding vice-chancellor's key goals from 1874: welcoming a body of students of democratic breadth.

Anant Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, edX, welcomed the inclusion of the University of Adelaide.

"The University of Adelaide has highly valued areas of teaching that will no doubt attract strong student interest from across the world," he said.

"Most importantly, the University has a very deep belief in access to education for students of all backgrounds, which is something we share at edX."

In offering MOOCs through edX, the University of Adelaide joins other universities and organisations, including Harvard, MIT, the University of Tokyo, UC Berkeley, The University of Texas System and more.

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