The Hebrew University of Israel joined the largest online educational project in the world
The Hebrew University of Israel is conducting the world’s largest educational project by giving free lectures of major online teachers available for millions of people.
The university has joined an organization called Coursera, which offers 200 undergraduate and student courses in a large range of disciplines, including medicine, literature, history and computer science. Along with lectures, courses may include assignments, tests and some online discussion forums.
Coursera already partnered with leading universities like the California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins, Princeton and Stanford. The Hebrew University – recently ranked as the 53rd best in the world – is the first Israeli faculty joining the program.
The Jerusalem Institute will initially offer three courses in order to add more over time. The courses are going to be dictated by the Professor Idan Segev, head of the Department of Neurobiology and a member of the Interdisciplinary Computing Neurological, Professor Yaakov Nahmias, director of the Center for Bioengineering, and Professor Jonathan Garb, who received the UH President’s Award 2010 as Distinguished Researcher and also teaches in the department of Jewish thought of the Mandel Jewish Studies Institute.
“The mission of the Hebrew University is to share its knowledge and research with the world, and we welcome this opportunity to join with other major universities to satisfy the hunger of global education. Technology will play an important role in the delivery of knowledge to diverse populations, from college students to those without access to formal education, “said the president of the institution, Professor Menahem Ben-Hasson, yesterday.
“We are particularly impressed by the vision, technology platform and focus on the partnership with major universities of Coursera, to make quality content available outside the classroom. We are hoping to learn from experience in offering massive online courses, “he added.