EdX doubles its size with 15 new universities


EdX will expand its Ivy League course offerings.

The not-for-profit massive open online course (MOOC) platform EdX roped in its first Asian institutions, along with more Ivy League universities, as the number of participating schools doubled May 21.

Bringing online courses from Berklee College of Music, Boston University, Davidson College, and University of Washington, along with Peking University in China, The University of Hong Kong, and other Asian institutions brings the number of EdX online schools to 27 just one year after the Cambridge-based outfit launched.

There are now more than 900,000 students taking EdX courses, some for college credit.

EdX, which will also feature classes from new educational partners from Europe, including Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium, the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and the Technical University of Munich in Germany, made the announcement weeks after philosophy professors at the San Jose State University (SJSU) criticized EdX courses in an open letter, saying that such courses were inferior to traditional classes.

The new EdX insititutions are expected to begin offering classes on the platform in late 2013 or early 2014, EdX said in a statement.

“As we continue to grow the xConsortium and offer courses from institutions as diverse as our global community of students, we are moving forward with our mission to reimagine education,” said Anant Agarwal, president of edX. “These schools, with their unique faculties and student bodies, will help us conduct collaborative research on best practices which improve education online and on campus.”

Boston University President Robert Brown said partnering with EdX would mesh nicely with the school’s ongoing effort to find innovative ways to use web-based learning.

“I am excited about the opportunity to help develop and use these enhanced learning tools for our residential students, and to invent new hybrid educational platforms as the next step in our ongoing, significant commitment to online learning, especially for our students in graduate professional programs,” he said.

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