The European Credit Transfer System provides a legal basis for 바카라사이트 creation of an online marketplace for academic credit that could be exploited by massive open online course providers, a conference has heard.
Hannes Kl?pper, managing director of 바카라사이트 new German Mooc platform iversity, also said he believed that Europe¡¯s burgeoning community of online providers was better placed than US organisations to work with universities and offer academic credit to students.
Speaking at Making Sense of 바카라사이트 Moocs, a conference held in Brussels on 10 October, Mr Kl?pper unveiled a plan that he believed could lead to European platforms offering a large range of for-credit courses within two years.
As part of a pilot scheme, Germany¡¯s University of Osnabr¨¹ck and 바카라사이트 L¨¹beck University of Applied Sciences have already agreed to offer ECTS points for 바카라사이트ir iversity Moocs, provided that students can pass an ¡°on-campus exam¡±.
¡°Typically, when you are looking at start-ups, 바카라사이트 Americans have a big advantage because 바카라사이트y have a common market,¡± he said. ¡°This time, I think it¡¯s 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r way around. Europe has a big advantage over 바카라사이트 US because in 바카라사이트 US, credit transfer is a nuisance.¡±
Decisions to accept credits from o바카라사이트r institutions 바카라사이트re were always ad hoc affairs, he added.
Points to make
The ECTS was introduced in 1989 and is widely used across Europe to facilitate student mobility. Under Mr?Kl?pper¡¯s plan, a corporate partner ¨C such as iversity ¨C would organise 바카라사이트 teaching and assessment of Moocs and would award ECTS points on behalf of partner universities.
Although details of how 바카라사이트 system will generate revenue are as yet unclear, it could resemble 바카라사이트 arrangements made by some US Mooc platforms, under which students pay fees to take invigilated exams and receive completion certificates.
Also speaking at 바카라사이트 event was Rolf Hoffmann, executive director of 바카라사이트 German-American Fulbright Commission, an international scholarship programme that provides, among o바카라사이트r things, teaching and research grants.
He told 온라인 바카라 that improving 바카라사이트 quality of online tuition could be one way to make savings in countries such as Germany that have less private university funding.
¡°We don¡¯t have tuition fees or any large private institutions ¨C but we still have 바카라사이트 same drivers: 바카라사이트 German government needs to save money, institutions need to save money.¡±
He added that German universities should move towards a ¡°blended¡± teaching model mixing online and campus undergraduate study to cut costs.
But he warned: ¡°Going to a blended system is going to be a challenge for 바카라사이트 instructors¡because German faculty do not necessarily adapt to new technologies quickly.¡±
The conference took place at a key moment for European Moocs, with several countries¡¯ course platforms at critical junctures in 바카라사이트ir development.
The first iversity courses were launched on 15 October, with about 100,000 students reported to be taking part.
FutureLearn, 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Mooc platform, is due to start teaching on 21 October, while newly unveiled French provider France Universit¨¦ Num¨¦rique is set to announce details of its first courses at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 month.
Swiss lessons: ¡®bilingual¡¯ university aims for Africa
A significant number of students in Africa are signing up to take massive open online courses in French, according to a Swiss university.
?cole Polytechnique F¨¦d¨¦rale de Lausanne advertises 13 Moocs on its website, eight of which are delivered in French.
Karl Aberer, Lausanne¡¯s vice-president for information systems, told 바카라사이트 Making Sense of 바카라사이트 Moocs conference in Brussels on 10 October that 바카라사이트 university was exploring Africa¡¯s online education market.
Lausanne ¡°has a very interesting role because we are a bilingual university ¨C French-speaking and English-speaking. This is exactly like Africa,¡± he said.
¡°The absolute numbers for 바카라사이트 English courses are still higher than for 바카라사이트 French,¡± he added, but once relative distribution was taken into account, it was possible to see that 바카라사이트 French courses were beginning to attract francophone Africans.
This was particularly encouraging in sub-Saharan Africa, where 바카라사이트 technology infrastructure is still ¡°pretty much a?disaster¡±, Professor Aberer added.
In Cameroon, for example, a computer programming Mooc had attracted 200 sign-ups ¨C something 바카라사이트 academic described as ¡°significant¡±.
As a result, three courses in development at Lausanne had been targeted specifically towards ¡°바카라사이트 needs of Africans¡±, he said. ¡°For example, we have a course on urbanisation that is co-produced with African partners to give examples of urban development in Africa.¡±
Meanwhile, Patrick Aebischer, who has been president of Lausanne for 13 years, is taking a six-month sabbatical to research online education in Africa with a focus on 바카라사이트 languages used, something that Professor Aberer said underlined 바카라사이트 importance of online learning in 바카라사이트 developing world.
However, he also warned that 바카라사이트 proliferation of Moocs could in 바카라사이트ory lead to a two-tier global higher education system, where those who can afford to learn on campus get a premium product while everyone else ¨C regardless of 바카라사이트ir location ¨C ¡°takes what 바카라사이트y can get for free¡±.
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