Topics

More

Penn State To Offer First Dual-Language MOOC

And the MOOC takeover of higher education continues! But seriously, MOOCs have an important place in the today’s education landscape, and Penn State has capitalized, now offering its very popular “Creativity, Innovation, and Change” MOOC in Chinese.

Penn State first offered the MOOC (short for Massive Open Online Course) last year, and more than 130,000 from 195 countries were enrolled. Only problem: It was offered in English only. Starting July 14, this will become the first Penn State course to be offered completely in two languages.

The MOOC was translated from its original version by graduate students Huihui Zhang and Tian Fu. The MOOC has six lessons, all of which contain both videos, lessons and readings. Jack Matson, one of the co-instructors and emeritus professor of environmental engineering, thinks that the Chinese offering will give this MOOC the largest enrollment from China than any other country except the U.S., which is saying something considering it’s the 10th-most enrolled course in the world.

“Each lesson, video and communication with students has been translated so that Chinese speakers can take this course and will not have to rely on English,” Matson said in the release. “This addition will bring another international perspective to a course in which students interact in discussion forums and on assignments.”

If you aren’t familiar with MOOCs yet, they’re highly dedicated online courses with the capacity to serve gigantic audiences. If their growth continues, they could put traditional higher education systems in a precarious position because of their relative ease of use and packaging. Oh, and most importantly: MOOCs are free, when taken through programs like Coursera. Penn State currently offers eight MOOCs through Coursera — one of which can be taken for credit (that option does cost money). MOOCs have a lot more security than other Internet spawn like Bitcoin, so get used to hearing the name.

Your ad blocker is on.

Please choose an option below.

Sign up for our e-mail newsletter:
OR
Support quality journalism:
Purchase a Subscription!

About the Author

Tim Gilbert

Former managing editor and staff writer.

No. 6 Seed Penn State Football Dismantles No. 11 Seed SMU 38-10 In College Football Playoff First Round

The Nittany Lions had two pick-sixes in the first half.

Penn State Football’s Defensive Line Disrupts SMU’s Offense In College Football Playoff Win

“You’re the best around, nothing’s gonna ever keep you down.”

Penn State Football’s Offense Overcomes Slow Start & Dominates SMU

Both backs averaged 6.4 yards per carry against the Mustangs.

113kFollowers
164kFollowers
63.1kFollowers
4,570Subscribers
Sign up for our Newsletter
Other posts by Tim

Penn State’s New Academic Mark Is Just Awful

My brain is not able to understand how a team of people supposedly proficient in this industry gathered, looked at this new mark, and said, “Yes, this will do!”

Penn State Hoops To Host DePaul In Inaugural Gavitt Tipoff

James Franklin To Throw First Pitch At Yankee Stadium On April 28