Two universities are located in the top-5-founder of online education, called edX and offers online programs to millions of students around the world for free.
Since the economy in America and the world more and more influenced by current technological developments, some Ivy League universities in the east coast of America has begun overshadowed by the greatness of the university on the west coast of America, located mainly in the states of California, including Stanford Unversity, UC Berkeley, UCLA , and USC. Universities on the east coast are outdated and many are still doing business in Europe following the system associated with traditional industries and heavy industries. While the university on the west coast is influenced by more modern and technological innovation of Silicon Valley region and assisted by the economic tigers of Asia Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan). Then no doubt that the two major universities that enter top-5 ranking on the east coast of America, namely Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently very surprised by the decline of their influence in the world of technology. So to catch up with these two institutions quickly took to partner and announced the establishment of an online educational institution called edX. Harvard and MIT will invest some $ 60 million (each $ 30 million). At first, MIT has begun an online program known as MITx end of 2011, Harvard as if just want to go-go's seem to take a stake in edX program. Just look at the logo below edX, MIT in the pairs of first symbol on the left, while Harvard in pairs on the right, usually find it more prestige Harvard, where would the number-emphasized.
The two institutions of higher education located in the city of Boston agreed to work together to offer a new pattern of teaching online system is provided for free. With the use of EDX, the partnership hopes to build a global community to accommodate students from all over the world who can not attend on campus like traditional educational system. According to a press release, EDX will be used to improve the quality of education for everyone. Along with offering online classes for free, Harvard and MIT uses EDX to find out more extensive and deeper know-how students learn with technology that can be applied in the future to improve the quality of instruction for the traditional education system.To extend the range of EDX to the world, a graduate of Stanford University computer scientist and was a descendant of an Indian named Anant Agarwal, has been appointed as the first rector EDX. Currently Prof. Agarwal served as Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. Before the institute was transformed into EDX, Prof. Agarwal is also the founder MITx which platform will be used by EDX. The pattern of teaching will be done via video, online exams, feedback, alternating questions and answers, and a self-test online lab. For students who successfully pass for each class will be given a certificate. Currently Prof. Agarwal and his team are putting together the first class expected to be announced in early summer (June-August) and the class will begin in autumn this year (September to December).
Online university that offered by smaller institutions have long known and have not appeared in the world of education in America and around the world such as the University of Phoenix. However, the pattern of university teaching online from top-5 has not been available until recently. So arguably EDX is a new breakthrough in the world of education is carried out by two top-5 universities in America, let alone given for free. Last year some well-known professor at Stanford University is offering online classes for free. One example of a class to learn "Artificial Intelligence" offered by professor Sebastian Thrun (Stanford) to attract 160,000 students who apply through the website Udacity. There are also institutions such as the cost issue coursera.org require students to attend classes offered, which coursera.org partnered with several leading American universities such as Stanford University, Michigan, Princeton, and Pennsylvania.
