DOCSLIB.ORG

The Opencourseware Story: New England Roots, Global Reach

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Opencourseware Story: New England Roots, Global Reach 08-NEB-117 NEJHE Summer 2008_Back 7/9/08 3:36 PM Page 30 FORUM: GOING DIGITAL The OpenCourseWare Story: New England Roots, Global Reach STEPHEN CARSON consortium, universities from Japan, thinking and a commitment to n April, representatives of more than 200 universities from around Spain, Korea, France, Turkey, Vietnam, addressing global challenges can the world gathered in Dalian, China, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, produce remarkable results. I the United States — plus dozens from to move forward their efforts to create MIT OpenCourseWare a global body of freely accessible course China — have already published the materials from over 6,200 courses. The OpenCourseWare movement materials spanning both cultures and has its roots in New England. The In a world of increasingly restrictive disciplines. These institutions have concept emerged in 2000 at intellectual property laws and intensi- committed to freely and openly sharing Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the Web the core teaching materials fying competition to provide for-profit where then-President Charles Vest — including syllabi, lecture notes, Web services, this movement stands charged a faculty committee with assignments and exams — from the in stark contrast to prevailing trends. answering two questions: “How is the courses they offer to their enrolled The story of this OpenCourseWare Internet going to change education?” students. Through the OpenCourseWare movement illustrates how novel and “What should MIT do about it?” A Culture of Shared Knowledge Developing a Strategy for Low-Cost Textbook Alternatives JUDY BAKER he open educational resources (OER) movement them available for use by community college students encourages the creation and sharing of free, open- and faculty. licensed, high-quality learning content for community CCCOER conducted a survey of 1,203 faculty from T 12 community college districts and 28 colleges across college courses to replace publishers’ costly copyrighted textbooks. Open textbooks are freely available, under the country about their attitudes and practices with regard an unrestricted license such as Creative Commons to open educational resources. The findings indicate a Attribution 3.0 to download from Website repositories large gap between those interested in using and willing to share, modify, redistribute, or print. to use OER in their classes (91 percent) and those The Community College Consortiumfor Open already using OER (34 percent). In order to address this Educational Resources (CCCOER) is a joint effort gap, the CCCOER is offering training and support. For established in 2007 by the Foothill-De Anza Community example, a self-paced introduction to open educational College District, the League for Innovation in the resources tutorial is available at the Connexions Website. Community College and dozens of other community A wealth of unpublished learning materials languish colleges and university partners to develop and use in the relative obscurity of isolated college campuses and OER in community college courses. In March 2008 the faculty offices. The CCCOER hopes to provide a means William and Flora Hewlett Foundation awarded $530,000 for faculty to share their knowledge via an open textbook to Foothill-De Anza Community College District in Los portal Website to be launched in the fall. The CCCOER Altos Hills, California and the CCCOER to plan and pilot Website (cccoer.wordpress.com) provides resources the Community College Open Textbook Project for one about open textbooks, training, membership, and campus year. Partners involved with the project include: Connexions advocacy. Community colleges are invited to join the at Rice University, Monterey Institute for Technology 60 plus colleges that are already CCCOER members in and Education, Institute for the Study of Knowledge support of the use of open textbooks. Management in Education, University of California Office of the President, Flat World Knowledge, and Judy Baker is dean of Foothill Global Access at California State University’s Digital Marketplace. Foothill College in Los Altos, California, and director The primary goal is to identify, create and/or of the Community College Consortium for Open repurpose existing OER as open textbooks and make Educational Resources. E-mail: [email protected] 30 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION 08-NEB-117 NEJHE Summer 2008_Back 7/9/08 3:36 PM Page 31 FORUM: GOING DIGITAL These questions were put to the materials from all courses offered. maps more than 2,600 individual video committee at the height of the dot-com The project was announced on the and print learning resources from the bubble, when a number of MIT’s peer front page of The New York Times advanced placement curricula for physics, institutions were already launching on April 4, 2001. calculus and biology; and finally, the high-profile distance learning ventures. MIT moved quickly to build a team portal links to OCW materials selected It was widely expected that the to execute the project, and launched to inspire the study of STEM (science, committee would recommend a a proof-of-concept site with materials technology, engineering and mathe- similar approach for MIT. from 50 courses in September 2002, matics) subjects, including engaging The committee found they were which generated an overwhelmingly demonstrations and competitions. unable to develop a business model positive response. Since then, MIT has that would allow MIT to compete published materials from approximately The OpenCourseWare successfully in the online environment, 400-500 courses annually. Today, the Consortium however. MIT is a relatively small MIT OpenCourseWare site (ocw.mit As remarkable as the MIT school, with approximately ten thou- .edu) contains virtually all of MIT’s OpenCourseWare story is, it is fast sand students and a thousand faculty. curriculum, including the syllabi and becoming a small part of a much MIT is also very residentially focused, reading lists from 1,800 courses, notes larger story. Shortly after the site with a strong emphasis on interactive from more than 15,000 lectures, 9,000 was launched with 500 courses in and hands-on learning across the problem sets, and 900 exams. The site September 2003, MIT was contacted institute. Because it would be very also contains 25 courses with complete by numerous institutions in the US expensive, and probably detrimental video-recorded lectures, and numerous and abroad who were inspired by to the curriculum, to convert these complete texts, simulations and the MIT example. The MIT faculty residential materials to online materials animations, samples of code and recognized that the OpenCourseWare for wide distribution, the committee other learning tools. concept would not truly change higher found itself without a clear answer to Response has far exceeded education unless it was a practice shared the questions posed by President Vest. expectations. As of April 2008, more widely by institutions around the globe, In addition, the faculty were seeking than 22 million individuals from around and so the OCW team was charged an approach that would address the the world have come to the OCW site. with assisting other schools in growing pressures faced by educational Translations of OCW content by other launching OCW projects. systems around the world as more organizations have been visited by an In the United States, schools with students competed for limited educa- additional 18 million individuals. The a strong sense of global mission — tional resources. At this point the site has proven to be a useful resource including Tufts University, John Hopkins committee decided that they might be for educators at other institutions, who University (Bloomberg School of Public able to take what MIT does best — are about fifteen percent of the OCW Health), University of Notre Dame, and residential education — and combine it audience, and to students at other Utah State University — began work with the Internet’s strength — wide and schools, who comprise an additional on their own OpenCourseWare sites. low-cost distribution of content — to thirty percent of OCW visitors. The Internationally, strong interest emerged generate a significant global benefit. big surprise to the MIT community was in Japan, China, Spain and France, with Rather than creating expensive new that fully half of the visitors to the site coalitions of schools coming together materials to support online learning, are not affiliated with a university at to share their own content or to trans- why not use the Internet to distribute all, but are instead a mix of working late the MIT content. By early 2005, the the course materials that MIT was professionals keeping their skills sharp, MIT OpenCourseWare team invited already creating for classroom use? individuals enjoying the opportunity representatives of these schools to the The faculty proposed the concept, to broaden their horizons, adults tran- MIT campus to discuss the formation which they dubbed OpenCourseWare sitioning back in to formal education, of the OpenCourseWare Consortium. (OCW), in the fall of 2000. President and other independent learners. The mission of the consortium was Vest recognized the power of the idea With the complete MIT curriculum established as advancing education immediately. He began seeking funding on the site, the OCW team has turned and empowering people through and initiated a series of discussions its attention to updating course materials OpenCourseWare. Starting with an within
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Open Education Resources: Current Limitations and Challenges and Its Usage in Developing Countries
    Open Education Resources: Current Limitations and Challenges and its Usage in Developing Countries Mark Peneder and Felix Walcher February 9, 2020 1 Abstract As the cost and demand of higher education is on the rise all over the world, education stakeholders are searching for ways to meet these demands. Open Educational Resources (OER) have the potential to provide these resources and promote lifelong learning. OER are freely accessible resources for educational purpose. OER are considered to reduce the gap between different strata of society and countries. But despite all these opportunities, OER has still not reached its full potential. This might be explained by the fact that it is still in the early adoption state and the number of challenges that OER is still facing at the moment. Often both teachers and students in higher education communities are not aware of the potential of OER. Furthermore, the major content of OER is mostly English language based and global north dominated. OER is free to use but not free to produce and maintain, because of this the perhaps biggest challenge of Open Educational Resources is their sustainability in financial terms. Developing countries have the possibility to benefit even more from existing OER to enhance or develop new teaching material based on the knowledge from all over the world but are also facing additional challenges. The western-dominated resources have to be recontextualized for their cultural context and they are plagued by limited funding, poor internet infrastructure and a general lack of awareness of OER and policies for its use and creation.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Source and Sustainability: the Role of University
    OPEN SOURCE AND SUSTAINABILITY: THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITY Dr. Giorgio F. SIGNORINI, PhD Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Firenze via della Lastruccia, 3 I-50019 Sesto F. (Firenze), Italy giorgio.signorini@unifi.it Abstract One important goal in sustainability is making technologies available to the maximum possible number of individuals, and especially to those living in less developed areas (Goal 9 of SDG). However, the diffusion of technical knowledge is hindered by a number of factors, among which the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) system plays a primary role. While opinions about the real effect of IPRs in stimulating and disseminating innovation differ, there is a growing number of authors arguing that a different approach may be more effective in promoting global development. The success of the Open Source (OS) model in the field of software has led analysts to speculate whether this paradigm can be extended to other fields. Key to this model are both free access to knowledge and the right to use other people’s results. After reviewing the main features of the OS model, we explore different areas where it can be profitably applied, such as hardware design and production; we then discuss how academical institutions can (and should) help diffusing the OS philosophy and practice. Widespread use of OS software, fostering of research projects aimed to use and develop OS software and hardware, the use of open education tools, and a strong commitment to open access publishing are some of the discussed examples. Keywords Sustainable Development, University, Open Source, Open Education, Open Access 1 Introduction What is sustainability about? According to the widely accepted definition of the Brundtland Report (Brundtland 1987), human development is sustainable when it can satisfy the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.
    [Show full text]
  • Replacing Traditional Textbooks with Open Educational Resources
    FIFTH ROUND STATEWIDE CALL FOR PROPOSALS Replacing Traditional Textbooks with Open Educational Resources Available to Faculty at Mississippi’s Public Universities and Community Colleges Development Stipends of $4,000 | Deadline: Monday, November 11, 2019 Are students buying the textbooks that you adopt? Do you worry about the cost of books, especially for your students in poverty? Does the bookstore stock enough copies of the books you order? Would you like to create your own mix of readings and activities, instead of relying on traditional textbooks? The University of Mississippi’s Z-Degree Initiative seeks proposals from faculty interested in using free and open digital resources to enhance existing undergraduate courses. Successful proposals will replace one or more traditional books with free and open digital resources, thereby increasing engagement and reducing costs for students. What free digital resources will be acceptable? Any openly-licensed materials that you find valuable and useful will be acceptable. Here are some digital resources that have been used by others: • Free and complete online textbooks • MIT OpenCourseWare from the University of Minnesota’s The Avalon Document Project from Yale Open Textbook Library • and from Rice University’s OpenStax • Lectures and Readings from Academic Earth • The Open Course Library from • Videos and Transcripts from the Washington State C-Span Video Library • E-Books and E-Journals from your own • Lectures from OpenLearn campus library • Modules from Connexions at Rice University • Open Learning Materials at Carnegie Mellon University • OpenCourseWare from UMass Boston Education Portal • Lectures and Readings from iTunes U • Modules and Readings from Project Gutenberg • Open Yale Courses • Free e-books from Lumen Learning • Public archives like The Whitman Archive • Open Courses from Faculty with successful proposals will conduct their research and planning during the spring and summer of 2020, with new course materials being first used during the 2020-2021 academic year.
    [Show full text]
  • 2020 OCW Impact Report Contents
    2020 OCW Impact Report Contents Reflections • 3 MIT OpenCourseWare: Part of a Global Effort • 4 OCW: Sharing MIT Materials With Learners and Educators Everywhere • 4 Updates From the Dean for Digital Learning • 5 Reaching Learners and Raising Awareness • 6 OCW’s Impact By the Numbers • 7 Thankful for Your Support • 8 Supporting Educators and Sharing Pedagogy • 9 Chalk Radio: A Podcast About Inspired Teaching • 10 In Memoriam • 11 Future Forward: Next Gen OCW • 12 2 Reflections Dear Friend of OCW, The challenges we have all faced over the last eight months have been extreme, ranging from the loss of loved ones to tragic consequences of long standing inequities and injustice, to the emotional toll of uncertainty and isolation in our daily lives. Amidst all of this, we are humbled and inspired to witness the amazing resilience of the millions of students, teachers, and independent learners using OpenCourseWare, and prioritizing learning. We are inspired by the teaching and learning communities that have come together and the resolve of people who continue to pursue knowledge even as they are isolated. Teaching and learning is what we do, together, even when we are apart. Hearing about your experiences doing so during these most trying circumstances is uplifting. We are also profoundly thankful to you, the faculty and contributors to OCW. Your support directly makes our work possible and helps us serve the thousands of learners who use and visit our site every day. We are grateful to count you as part of our growing learning community. As we head into a new academic year, we wanted to look back and share some of the high points as well as a snapshot of where OCW is headed.
    [Show full text]
  • (OER) Movement
    MiT8 public media, private media May 3-5, 2013 at MIT, Cambridge, MA Theo Hug <[email protected]> (University of Innsbruck) Education for All Revisited: On Concepts of Sharing in the Open Educational Resources (OER) Movement DRAFT VERSION Abstract1 Relationships between the private and public sphere in education have been discussed repeatedly and in various ways. However, the role of media and media dynamics is widely underestimated in this context. Only recently, after the digital turn, has the focus of the debates changed. In the past few years, manifold initiatives aiming at opening up education on various levels using digital communications technologies and Creative Commons licenses. Additionally, massive open online courses (moocs) have been developed. Today, OER (Open Educational Resources) is used widely as an umbrella term for free content creation initiatives: OER Commons (http://www.oercommons.org/), Open Courseware (OCW), OER repositories, OCW search facilities, University OCW initiatives, and related activities. Shared resource sites such as Connexions (http://cnx.org), WikiEducator (http://wikieducator.org), and Curriki (www.curriki.org) have an increasing number of visitors and contributors. On one hand, the motif of ‘education for all’ is once again appearing in related debates and practices. On the other hand, notions of sharing play a crucial role in open content and open education strategies. This paper has a threefold purpose: it starts with an outline of selected understandings of sharing in educational contexts; it then addresses their relevance for OER development through examining contrasting and relational conceptual dimensions. Furthermore, the contribution aims to take forms of sharing as media forms and to distinguish between stronger and weaker forms of sharing.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to Choosing Digital Contentand Curriculum TABLE of CONTENTS
    Guide to Choosing Digital Contentand Curriculum TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 Section 1: Planning for Success 4 Establishing a Common Vision and Understanding 5 Involving Stakeholders 5 Shifting the Mindset 7 Section 2: Understanding Digital Content and Curriculum Options 8 Recognizing Good Digital Content 9 The Importance of Assessment and Evaluation 10 Going Open with Open Educational Resources 10 Leveraging Purchased Content 13 Section 3: Implementing with Fidelity 16 Putting Students First 17 Identifying Instructional Models 17 Ensuring Teacher Readiness 17 Building Out Infrastructure 18 Planning for Sustainability 21 Conclusion 22 Resources 24 Appendix 25 SHUTTERSTOCK.COM INTRODUCTION The Path to Digital Transformation The adoption of digital content and curriculum is a top process, teachers look at the textbook and all of the priority for U.S. school districts. Ninety percent of dis- supplemental materials associated with the text. In the tricts in a Center for Digital Education (CDE) survey said digital review process, they can see a sample account they were either planning to or already had implemented but not necessarily how the tool integrates with enter- personalized learning programs utilizing digital content. prise systems or other software. All of these factors But while digital content and curriculum has been a make it more challenging to review and select digital hot topic for some time, few districts have successfully curriculum. Even when districts have plans to select adopted it in all grade levels and subject areas. content and improve technology infrastructure to ensure While districts have largely used software applica- all students have access to the instructional materials tions to supplement text-based instructional resources, they need, the foundation of a successful implemen- digital resources are now rigorous and robust enough tation depends on teachers' ability to effectively utilize to be used in place of traditional textbooks.
    [Show full text]
  • Offenheit Und Teilen in Der Open Educational Resources (OER) Bewegung
    Bildung für alle – eine Neuauflage? Offenheit und Teilen in der Open Educational Resources (OER) Bewegung Theo Hug Zusammenfassung Fragen nach der Bedeutung privater und öffentlicher Dimensionen in Bil- dungsprozessen und Forderungen nach Bildung für alle werden in der Pädago- gik seit Jahrhunderten diskutiert. Die Rolle von Medien und Mediendynami- ken wurde dabei weithin unterschätzt. In den letzten Jahren wurden allerdings vielfältige Initiativen entwickelt mit dem Ziel der Öffnung von Bildung mit- tels digitaler Kommunikationstechnologien und Creative Commons-Lizenzen sowie massive open online courses (moocs). Heute findet die Bezeichnung Open Educational Resources (OER) breite Verwendung als Überbegriff für Initiativen zur Schaffung von frei verfügbaren Inhalten, OER Commons, Open Courseware (OCW), OER-Archiven, OCW-Suchhilfen sowie universitären OCW-Initiativen und ähnlichen Aktivitäten. Auf der einen Seite werden in den einschlägigen Debatten und Praktiken alte Motive der Bildung für alle wieder aufgegriffen. Auf der anderen Seite spielen spezifische Auffassungen der gemeinsamen Nutzung eine zentrale Rolle bei Strategien bezüglich frei zugänglicher Inhalte und offener Bildungsmedien. Der Beitrag beginnt (1) mit einem Abriss über ausgewählte Auffassungen von Offenheit und Teilen in bildungsbezogenen Zusammenhängen, gefolgt (2) von einer Erörterung ihrer Relevanz für OER-Entwicklungen mittels der Gegenüberstellung und Relati- onierung von konzeptuellen Dimensionen. Abschließend (3) zielt der Beitrag auf eine Interpretation der Formen
    [Show full text]
  • Winter/Spring 2021 Participants
    MIT’s Council on the Uncertain Human Future Winter/Spring 2021 Participants Deb Blum Director, Knight Science Journalism MIT Deborah Blum is a Pulitzer-prizewinning American science journalist, columnist, and author of six books, including The Poison Squad (2018), and The Poisoner’s Handbook (2010). She is a former president of the National Association of Science Writers, was a member of the governing board of the World Federation of Science Writers, and currently serves on the board of advisors of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. Blum is co- editor of the book A Field Guide for Science Writers, and in 2015, she was selected as the fourth director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT. Martha Broad Executive Director, MIT Energy Initiative Martha Broad is MITEI’s executive director. As part of the leadership team, she works to link science, innovation and policy to transform the world’s energy systems. She has a track record of successfully partnering with business, government and nonprofit stakeholders to support the clean energy transition. At MITEI, she works closely with member companies who collaborate with MIT researchers on a spectrum of topics, including the Low-Carbon Energy Centers. In addition, she spearheads MITEI’s collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy to design, manage, and host the annual Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Women in Clean Energy Symposium and serves as a C3E Ambassador. Previously, as part of the senior management team of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Broad led programs and studies that focused on the commercialization of clean energy technologies.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Courseware and Developing Countries: Building a Community
    Open Courseware and Developing Countries: Building a Community This is the report of The Forum on the Impact of Open Courseware for Higher Education in Developing Countries, convened in Paris by UNESCO 1-3 July 2002, with the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and organizational assistance from the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, WCET. Participants mapped a collaborative course, involving colleges and universities from around the world, for the productive and creative use of openly shared educational resources. In advance comments, summarized in an appendix to this report, they provided insights on the potentials and complex issues involved. This report was prepared by John Witherspoon. Contents The Forum Report Introduction: Open Resources 3 Defining the Concept 3 Prospects and Issues 3 Open Educational Resources: Turning a Concept into Reality 5 Design of an Index/Database 5 Creating a Globally Viable Infrastructure 6 2003: From Concept to Operation 6 Appendix A: Overview of the MIT OpenCourseWare Initiative 7 Appendix B: Summary of Forum Participants’ Preliminary Papers 11 Appendix C: Participants and Organizational Representatives 15 2 Introduction: Open Resources In spring 2001 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that over a half- dozen years the substance of virtually all its courses would be posted on the Web, available for use by faculty members and students around the world, at no charge.1 Just over a year later – before material from its first course was online – MIT’s OpenCourseWare concept became the focus of a new international community. This emerging consortium was organized to evaluate, adapt, use, and develop open resources for its members’ many cultures and diverse languages.
    [Show full text]
  • Free Online Courses (PDF)
    Free Online Courses OpenCourseWare OpenCourseWare (OCW) are courses that have been created by post-secondary institutions and published for free on the internet: § Open Yale Courses: https://oyc.yale.edu/ § UMass Boston OpenCourseWare: http://ocw.umb.edu/index.html § MIT OpenCourseWare: https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm § UC Irvine OpenCourseWare: https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm § JHSPHOpen (Public Health Courses and Materials): https://ocw.jhsph.edu/ § Utah State OpenCourseWare: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/ocw/ § University of Michigan Open.Michigan: https://open.umich.edu/ Massive Open Online Course Providers Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online courses that are open access and have unlimited participation. The following MOOC providers compile and host courses from various post-secondary institutions: § edX: https://www.edx.org/ § Class Central: https://www.classcentral.com/ § Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/courses?query=free § Udacity: https://www.udacity.com/ § Alison: https://alison.com/ § Canvas: https://www.canvas.net/ § Open Learning: https://www.openlearning.com/ § Future Learn: https://www.futurelearn.com/ § Saylor Academy: https://www.saylor.org/ § Khan Academy: https://www.khanacademy.org/ § Kadenze: https://www.kadenze.com/courses § Academic Earth: https://academicearth.org/ MOOC Directories Search these MOOC directories to find providers, courses and OpenCourseWare: § MOOC List: https://www.mooc-list.com/ § MOOC Lab: https://www.mooclab.club/home/ § My MOOC: https://www.my-mooc.com/en/ www.mcgill.ca/caps 2020-05-07 .
    [Show full text]
  • Shaping 21St Century Journalism Leveraging a “Teaching Hospital Model” in Journalism Education by C.W
    New America Foundation Shaping 21st Century Journalism Leveraging a “Teaching Hospital Model” in Journalism Education By C.W. Anderson, Tom Glaisyer, Jason Smith and Marika Rothfeld, October 2011 Report Summary As the media industry evolves to meet the challenges of the emerging digitally-networked era, so too are journalism schools. Democracy and healthy local communities require this evolution. As the media industry reshapes itself, a tremendous opportunity emerges for America‖s journalism programs. Neither news organizations nor journalism programs will disappear, but both must rethink their missions, particularly now that many more people can be journalists (at least, on an occasional basis) and many more people produce media than ever before. The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State Journalism education programs have an University (Photo credit: Sean Horan/Flickr) opportunity to become “anchor institutions” in the emerging informational ecosystem. Many schools have long embraced elements of this vision, but satisfying the information needs of communities will require schools to take on all the challenges of engaging as serious and valuable producers of meaningful journalism. To date, some programs have avoided or shirked these responsibilities, failing to leverage broadcast licenses as part of their educational mission or inadequately supporting the pursuit of meaningful journalism by students. A move to embrace a community news mission would add a powerful momentum to the recommendation of the Knight Commission Report on the Information Needs of Democracies that “higher education, community and nonprofit institutions [should increase their role] as hubs of journalistic activity and other information-sharing for local communities.” This call was echoed in the recently issued Federal Communications Commission report on the changing media landscape in a broadband age.
    [Show full text]
  • The University and the Future
    Contents PRESENTATION 1 THE UNIVERSITY THE YEAR AT A AND THE FUTURE GLANCE 2 ACADEMIC YEAR 2010-2011 SUMMARY OF THE UOC ANNUAL REPORT THE UOC IN FIGURES 8 THE UOC IN THE WORLD 16 RESEARCH, TRANSFER AND INNOVATION 18 EDUCATION AND QUALITY 20 FINANCIAL REPORT 22 THE UOC ONLINE 24 portada okENG.indd 1 09/02/12 11:04 “OVER THE LAST ACADEMIC YEAR WE HAVE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO ENSURE THAT THE UOC IS EVEN MORE OPEN AND ACCESSIBLE, FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE TO SOCIETY’S NEEDS, AND MOBILE, MULTILINGUAL AND MULTI-FORMAT IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO THE LIFESTYLES OF OUR STUDENTS.” Imma Tubella, President of the UOC rectora.uoc.edu THE UNIVERSITY AND THE FUTURE Recently, I have had the opportunity to For this reason, over the last academic present the UOC’s educational and gov- year we have made every effort to ensure ernance model at international university that the UOC is even more open and ac- forums in such diverse corners of the world cessible, fl exible and adaptable to society’s as Washington, Paris, Singapore, Qatar and needs, and mobile, multilingual and multi- Kenya to widely differing audiences from the format in order to be able to respond to the academic, scientifi c, business and govern- lifestyles of our students. ment sectors. On each occasion, I felt great pride on hearing how speakers – both those This commitment means we have to who already knew about us and those who reinvent ourselves constantly and steer our only just had – saw the UOC as a point of organisation so as to bravely navigate the reference for their online universities.
    [Show full text]