Coursera, an online open-learning platform, announced Wednesday that 17 new universities have joined to offer “massively open online courses,” known as MOOCs.
The new partnerships include two Ivy League schools, Brown and Columbia universities, as well as a wide range of liberal arts colleges, public research institutions, specialized schools and international universities. These new schools will double the number of Coursera’s partnerships from 16 to 33.
Since its launch less than a year ago, the platform has offered free, non-credit courses to more than a million students worldwide. Penn, one of the original partners with Coursera, announced its involvement in April and has now seen the success of several classes taught by its professors.
The University has also invested financially in the future of Coursera with a joint $3.7 million equity investment with the California Institute of Technology in July. In addition, Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price announced the new appointment of Edward Rock to the position of senior adviser for open course initiatives at the beginning of this month. As part of his role, Rock is responsible for Penn’s implementation of Coursera.
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