EdX, a non-profit education think tank, was created in Boston to continue to raise the standard of learning and is catching on quickly. The company plans to change education through massive open online courses, or MOOCs.
“EdX is building an open source educational platform and a network of the world’s top universities to improve education both online and on campus while conducting research on how students learn,” said an edX press release.
The organization was created by partners at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) just over a year ago, and is growing fast.
Many colleges across the country and around the world are beginning to use online courses for their entire student bodies rather than just for students who cannot be in the classroom, like those who have full-time jobs.
Suffolk University has said that along with the 20 Somerset building, students in 2015 will see a large rise in online coursework. Students can now wonder if Suffolk will want to join the ranks of Boston academia under edX.
“I personally wouldn’t take [online classes] because I wouldn’t pay attention,” said Kirstin Reddoch, a rising junior. However, Amanda Black, also going to be a junior, does think Suffolk would be a good fit alongside other Boston institutions working with edX.
This switch to online learning instead of the classic classroom education seems largely influenced by the rise of technology over the last decade; edX appears to be trying to aid this movement.
According to BostInno, 15 institutions joined edX on May 21. The non-profit now serves 27 colleges and universities.
Born from two of Boston’s most prestigious colleges, two more Boston institutions joined the non-profit on that date. Boston University and Berklee College of Music signed on to the cause in order to increase the amount of online learning their students can receive.
“As we continue to grow the xConsortium and offer courses from institutions as diverse as our global community of students, we are moving forward with our mission to reimagine education,” said the president of edX, Anant Agarwal, in a press release.
Mayor Thomas Menino joined the partners of edX in order to create BostonX, a way for Boston residents to come together for the online learning initiative, according to an edX press release.
“BostonX will help update our neighbor’s skills and our community centers,” said Menino in the edX press release.
As of right now, anyone can register for an edX course, which are currently free, according to the edX website.
