MOOCs Charter Oak State College, an online public institution in Connecticut, will award credit for completion of select massive open online courses (MOOCs) offered through the edX platform. Benefits of edX courses for students according to Charter Oak include cheaper credits, unlimited enrollments, the ability to pay for credits after learning the material and elimination of barriers such as applications, fees and transcript requests. Currently, two courses, Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python from MITx and Engineering Software as a Service (SaaS) Part 2 from BerkeleyX, have been approved. Both courses are currently enrolling students and scheduled to begin in January. "For Charter Oak, evaluating prior learning for college credit is what we were created to do," said Ed Klonoski, president of Charter Oak State College, in a prepared statement. "Now, we have the opportunity to partner with a worldwide leader in online learning, edX, to award college credit for successful completion of select courses. This partnership reflects our mission of using non-traditional means to speed adults toward the completion of their college degrees in a cost effective manner." "We are pleased to offer a new pathway to college credit through this collaboration with Charter Oak State College," said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO and professor at MIT, in a prepared statement. "EdX learners around the world will now be able to earn credit for their hard work and success in MOOCs, offering an opportunity to many who would otherwise never have access to high-quality education and credit." For more information, including new courses as they are approved, visit edx.org/charter-oak. About the Author Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].
Charter Oak State College in Connecticut has become the latest American college to approve two edX courses for credit, one produced by MIT and the other by Berkeley. Campus Technology reports the college sees edX as a way to offer students unlimited enrolment and a chance to pay for credits only after mastering the course material as well as eliminate enrolment barriers like the college application, fees, and transcript requests. As an online institution already primed to accept alternative credits, it is thought to be highly likely that Charter Oak will expand its partnership with edX further, to go beyond the current computer science and engineering courses.