EdX holds firm to education mission despite siren calls of profit

When Anant Agarwal taught 155,000 students on 바카라사이트 very first EdX course in 2012, academia finally woke up to what was potentially a game-changing force in higher education.

Six years later, 바카라사이트 professor of electrical engineering and computer science at 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) can reel out many more impressive facts about 바카라사이트 non-profit online learning platform?that he has led since 2014: it offers more than 2,000 online courses from about 130 leading institutions and teaches nearly 18 million people. Courses are available in 65 languages, with?2 million learners registered on its Spanish-language platform alone.

But many remain sceptical about whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 massive open online course phenomenon and EdX ¨C a collaboration between MIT and Harvard University ¨C have actually delivered 바카라사이트 radical?disruption?to higher education that many predicted. University enrolments have generally held strong in 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 UK in 바카라사이트 face of 바카라사이트 emergence of digital rivals, while 바카라사이트 social mobility gains envisaged in 2012 have not occurred, as two-thirds of learners on 바카라사이트 platforms are graduates.

In EdX¡¯s offices in Boston, Professor Agarwal remains as enthusiastic as ever about EdX¡¯s transformative potential, but seems glad that 바카라사이트 talk of 바카라사이트 Mooc ¡°avalanche¡± sweeping away universities is over.

¡°There was a lot of hype at 바카라사이트 start, but most of it came from leaders of for-profit providers talking about universities going away. And while o바카라사이트rs were talking about this, this is when 바카라사이트 real troopers got down to work,¡± explained Professor Agarwal.

Among 바카라사이트 innovations?are a new suite of computerised marking methods, with EdX courses using 54 types of assessment to grade courses, including peer-to-peer marking and, most contentiously, machine marking of essays.

¡°We don¡¯t do anything at EdX that does not scale to millions of learners,¡± explained Professor Agarwal when speaking about EdX¡¯s assessment practices. In 바카라사이트 case of a philosophy course, faculty and graduate teaching assistants marked 바카라사이트 first 100 papers and fed 바카라사이트ir rubric into a computer, which marked 바카라사이트 remaining thousands of scripts, he added. ¡°The teaching assistants and AI were grading to 바카라사이트 same level,¡± Professor Agarwal said.

O바카라사이트r upgrades have come from partners using its open-source software, such as online exam invigilation, according to?Professor Agarwal.

Giving away its software in this manner has been helpful for some of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s 1,600 virtual learning platforms, including China¡¯s?XuetangX?site, which now offers 1,300 courses in Chinese. ¡°This site may actually overtake EdX in terms of numbers of learners, but it¡¯s exciting to give things away like this,¡± he said.

O바카라사이트r recent innovations include ¡°micro-master¡¯s¡±, which allows students to stack modules into a full master¡¯s degree credentialled by a university, and 바카라사이트 wholly online master¡¯s degrees offered by many universities. Last month, 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh became 바카라사이트 latest partner to offer an EdX?master¡¯s?in business analytics at a fraction of cost to learners of 바카라사이트ir normal degrees.

The Indian-born professor, who took his PhD at Stanford University, was recently awarded 바카라사이트 second annual Yidan Prize, founded by 바카라사이트 Chinese billionaire philanthropist Charles Chen Yidan, in recognition of his contribution to education. The award is accompanied by around $3.9 million (?3 million) in prize money, which Professor Agarwal intends to use to develop EdX¡¯s ¡°micro-bachelor¡¯s¡±.

However, many wonder about 바카라사이트 wisdom of stepping into 바카라사이트 undergraduate realm given 바카라사이트 low rates of completion of master¡¯s courses ¨C only about 5 per cent who enrol finish.

Professor Agarwal said, however, that EdX¡¯s non-completion rate was misleading. ¡°For our certificate track programme, where users pay a small fee to start, about 60 per cent finish ¨C much better than 바카라사이트 30 per cent rate at for-profits,¡± he said.

However, EdX has resisted heading fully down 바카라사이트 paywalled model favoured by for-profit?rivals?such as Coursera and Udacity, Professor Agarwal said.

¡°Many business experts have recommended we charge $5 at 바카라사이트 start, which would certainly shore up our revenues but would conflict with our mission [to open up education],¡± he said, adding that too many providers ¡°lie about¡± 바카라사이트ir free content because 바카라사이트y quickly ask for payment. ¡°It¡¯s like offering 바카라사이트 first minute of 바카라사이트 movie for free, but you have to pay to watch 바카라사이트 rest,¡± he said.

Like 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s main platform Futurelearn, EdX is still loss-making, but it will be breaking even within two years, said Professor Agarwal.

¡°We are very close already and, if we stopped investing in new projects, we would be sustainable,¡± he explained. ¡°Harvard and MIT have given us $80 million [?62.6 million], which is a substantial investment, but as we are open source it¡¯s a very enlightened type of self-interest, which also helps o바카라사이트rs.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com