Professors talk with Coursera's European director
20/11/2014
On 19 November, Emma Webb, head of Coursera in Europe, visited the UAB and shared opinions on the platform with professors who had offered MOOCs or were interested in participating. The event included the participation of Glòria González, Vice Rector for Quality, Teaching and Employability; Xavier Ribes, Rector's Commissioner for Information Society; Monse Masoliver, Deputy Executive Administer for Academic Regulations; Elena Valderrama, academic coordinator of the MOOC project at the UAB; and Juanan Martínez, technical coordinator of the project.
The UAB offers massive open online courses through Coursera, the world's main platform on these types of courses. The courses offered until now at the UAB were of interest to many students. MOOCs foster lifelong learning and help in internationalising all types of studies. The UAB was the first university in Spain to offer these types of courses and it is the only Spanish member of Coursera.
Webb offered a few figures on the platform, such as the fact that there are 10 million students signed up around the world, and she spoke on the general profile of users and the most popular courses. According to Webb, Coursera's philosophy consists in conceiving the student as "someone of any age and any level of education who is pursuing a passion or exploring a curiosity".
She also spoke extensively on the MOOC on-demand mode, which allows users to follow the course at any moment. This mode, she explained, has helped to make the courses more accessible, since many users expressed their disappointment of having missed the course dates. Coursera works to foster interaction as well through private communities. She also highlighted that on-demand MOOCs allow those who are more motivated to complete the course quicker.
The UAB professors in turn explained their experiences when offering the courses, and highlighted the positive relation with students and the enthusiasm and satisfaction they showed. They also posed issues such as the use of specific tools in certain academic disciplines and the advantages and disadvantages of offering a course in more than one language.
More information:
Coursera