It’s been a long road in creating an online world in which to interact with billions of people, and interestingly enough it happened almost by complete accident. But today we see users utilize a variety of ‘Web 2.0’ applications which allow them to have a direct impact on a website, application or service provided online and allows users to shape their virtual world around them. The latest in these developments is a large stride forwards in education indeed.
Supported by world-renowned academic institutions Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a new online education service, EdX, is about to step forth. EdX intends to extend a student’s ability to learn, not just throughout a campus, but also online. The best part about it: It’ll be accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. Although web-based courses have been around for a number of years, this is the first time that multiple universities have undertaken a digital education project of this level and scale. “EdX represents a unique opportunity to improve education on our own campuses through online learning.†MIT’s President, Susan Hockfield, said, “While simultaneously creating a bold new education path for millions of learners worldwide.â€
The two universities intent to schedule in the service sometime in the summer of 2014 and will aim to offer the first lot of exclusively-online courses in both institutions in autumn. It’s hoped that other universities will also link in, and in a decade we could even see a full global network of universities providing fully-online courses in almost every field. Harvard’s President, Drew Faust, has said, “The ultimate goal is to expand these efforts to collaborate with other universities to host a wide range of educational offerings on a single site.†Encouragingly enough, educational giants Stanford and Yale have also launched similar online education projects and we could even see these become interlinked in future.
Exciting news! The scheme has potential to change the lives of millions and completely revolutionize the way education is both taught and perceived. MIT’s Director of Computer Science, Anant Agarwal has said, “Online Education is revolutionary, will completely change the world.†The collaborative project is being funded with over $60 Million from a combination of the two institutions and online material will additionally be used to improve the standards of already-high levels of education for their existing students.
Are you interested in these new developments in technology and education? How about finding a position as a teacher yourself so that you can be a change for good in the world too? If you’re interested in being placed internationally, check out our jobs page!