The University of Wisconsin-Madison announced plans Wednesday to offer free online courses to the public, beginning with four pilot courses the university plans to roll out in the next year.
UW-Madison will be one of 28 universities to partner with Coursera, an online learning company, to offer new Massive Online Open Courses, according to Dean of the Division of Continuing Studies Jeff Russell.
Russell said the university plans to offer four MOOCs beginning next fall with one course in education through video games and another on business markets. A course in geography and another in human evolution will follow in later semesters. None of the courses will be offered for credit at this time, he added.
According to a statement from the university, the majority of funding for the project will come from private sources. Russell said the university is not currently intending to monetize the courses, but rather use them as a learning experience.
According to Russell, the MOOCs are an “experiment” in the campus’ Educational Innovation strategy, an effort to create sustainable education while better using capacities and generating new revenue sources. This has been spearheaded by Interim Chancellor David Ward and Provost Paul DeLuca.
“[MOOCs] also tie in with the Wisconsin Idea by making what we do accessible outside the walls of the university,” Russell said.
Russell said he hopes the university will eventually take lessons learned about new teaching technologies and integrate them into courses taught on campus.
“These are exciting times,” Russell said. “And we’re looking forward to taking the first baby step.”
