200,000 join uni's online courses

Dec 13 2012

More than 200,000 people from around the world have signed up for free higher education taster sessions being offered online by a university.

In July the University of Edinburgh became the first university in the UK to join the Coursera consortium, set up by academics in the US last year to provide web-based undergraduate-level courses to anyone who wants to access them.

The five-week courses, which will get under way in January, cover six disciplines across the humanities, engineering and science.

The courses initially offered, known as massive open online courses (Moocs), are on astrobiology and the search for extra-terrestrial life, equine nutrition, digital media, "critical thinking in global challenges", artificial intelligence and philosophy.

They are tasters for people interested in higher education but who are not in a position to do it full-time. There are no entry requirements, the courses will not result in a qualification and completion does not count towards future university entrance.

The university has now reached the "significant" 200,000 milestone in its aim to offer "free higher education-standard online courses to all".

Edinburgh principal Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea said: "These are exciting opportunities for us to offer satisfying learning experiences to so many people worldwide.

"Our success in attracting learners to experience what Edinburgh has to offer, at no cost to themselves, complements our rapidly expanding efforts in providing other forms of online learning including full postgraduate and other distance-learning courses."