Australian university attracts one million extra students via MOOCs
The University of Queensland in Australia has attracted one million extra enrolments via it’s UQx MOOC offering of 16 online courses accessible in conjunction with edX. Students from around the globe have been attracted to the free courses covering a wide variety of topics such as hypersonics, critical thinking, climate science and anthropology. The offering has grown from one course to the current 16 in just over two years, and many more courses are planned.

More than a million people are eager to learn from University of Queensland experts, with the UQx Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) program accepting its millionth enrolment at the weekend.

UQ runs 16 MOOCs through its UQx program, a service that offers free online university courses to anyone with access to the internet.

UQx Director John Zornig said UQx released its first MOOC, The Science of Everyday Thinking, in March 2014.

“To grow at this rate – reaching more than one million students in less than two and half years – demonstrates the quality of our courses and the desire our international audience has to learn,” he said.

“We’ve gone from one course to 16, covering off on topics such as hypersonics, critical thinking, climate science and anthropology.

“UQx is also responsible for the world’s first online course designed to improve healthcare for people with an intellectual disability, as well as our incredibly popular grammar and style course, which has attracted more than 270,000 enrolments

“Our English preparation course, which helps non-native English speakers around the world kick-start their university education has attracted more than 200,000 learners in less than a year.”

“We have many more courses planned, and look forward to sharing UQ’s academic and research excellence with the world.”

Mr Zornig said the MOOCs were not only benefitting online users.

“Every UQx MOOC is used in some way in UQ’s on-campus teaching, and the focus at UQx has increasingly turned to enhancing on-campus programs,” he said.

UQx’s MOOCs enrolments to date:

Course Released Enrolments to 02/07/16 The Science of Everyday Thinking 02/03/14 259,711 Introduction to Biomedical Imaging 07/04/14 37,605 Hypersonics – from Shock Waves to Scramjets 06/04/14 17,965 Tropical Coastal Ecosystems 28/04/14 22,762 Anthropology of Current World Issues 25/08/14 30,704 English Grammar and Style 22/09/14 279,847 The Psychology of Criminal Justice 20/10/14 40,448 Making Sense of Climate Science Denial 28/04/15 26,101 Philosophy and Critical Thinking 24/11/15 26,374 IELTS Academic Test Preparation 27/11/15 205,947 Unlocking Your Employability 28/01/16 17,914 Working in Teams: A Practical Guide 14/03/16 7,147 AbleX Series: Intellectual Disability Healthcare 21/03/16 4,562 Sharks! Global Biodiversity, Biology, and Conservation 28/06/16 18,331 Question Everything: Scientific Thinking in Real Life 12/07/16 4,959

Click here to register for a UQx MOOC on edX.

Media: Catherine Bennett, c.bennett1@uq.edu.au , +61 7 3346 0850.