NTU Singapore to award degree course credits earned through MOOCs
New Delhi: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) today announced that its undergraduates will now be able to sign up for selected massive open online courses (MOOCs) to earn academic course credits for its degree programmes.
All undergraduates, except medical (MBBS) students, can participate in selected high-quality online courses offered by some of the world’s top universities, to earn credits worth up to 12 academic units (equivalent to 3 to 5 courses) that will be counted towards graduation requirements.
Professor Ling San, NTU Deputy President and Provost said, “Many of the approved courses come from top global universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, and Imperial College London. Ultimately, we hope that this new initiative will inspire our students to become self-directed lifelong learners and enhance their personal development and potential. Applying the knowledge gained from MOOCs to real-life problems will also give students a competitive edge in their career.”
For a start, 86 pre-approved MOOCs have been identified for credit transfer. These include courses such as ‘The Analytics Edge’ offered by MIT, ‘Machine Learning’ by Stanford University, and ‘Business Strategies for Social Impact’ by Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Such courses, taught by some of the leading experts in top universities, provide students with the opportunity to supplement their learning beyond what is available at NTU, in areas of their interest or chosen specialisation.
Students may take the MOOCs at any time and at their own pace, upon commencing their NTU studies. New students who have been admitted to the University may also earn credits for the pre-approved MOOCs that they successfully complete within three years before their matriculation.
To register for the pre-approved courses, there are three MOOC platforms that students may sign up for, namely Coursera, edX and FutureLearn. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NTU’s partner Coursera, one of the largest providers of online learning with over 3,800 courses from prestigious universities and companies, recently announced that it is allowing its partners, including NTU users, to obtain a certificate for a selection of MOOCs free of charge if they register by 31 July 2020 and complete the courses by 30 September 2020. Normally, graded assignments and certificates need to be paid for, while access to all the course material is free.
Some 23,000 undergraduates will stand to benefit from this new initiative.