UMass Boston to Offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

The Center for Innovation and Excellence in eLearning (CIEE) at the University of Massachusetts Boston announced today that it will make available two massive open online courses (MOOCs) in Spring 2013. These two online courses will be open to the public, free of charge, and offered solely through the university.

Philip DiSalvio, Dean of the College of Advancing and Professional Studies, announced UMass Boston's recent initiative at a symposia “Sustainability of MOOCs in Higher Education" held on campus.  CIEE is part of the College of Advancing and Professional Studies.

"These online courses will provide interested learners a high quality educational experience. Open and free, UMass Boston continues to serve its mission of access and service to the community," DiSalvio said.

The two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to be offered in Spring 2013 are:

• "Molecular Dynamics" - A twelve-week course developed in collaboration with the College of Science and Mathematics' Physics Department. “It is a field of computational science that has grown significantly in importance as the cost and complexity of experimental design has risen."

• "Coasts and Communities" -   A five-week course, developed in collaboration with the College of Science and Mathematics' School of the Environment. It is offered as a complement to the strong UMass Boston science program offerings that exist both on campus and online.

All questions related to the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) should be directed to Alan Girelli at alan.girelli@umb.edu.