An alliance of six international universities is exploring the possibilities of a credit system for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Delft University of Technology is leading the alliance. Here, Radboud University is choosing not to offer video classes for people outside campus.

The six universities involved in the project aim to create a system where students can gain credit for taking online classes. This is not a simple task, since the classes have to be integrated in study programs, and their level has to be classified. Most of the existing MOOCs were not created for these purposes. Eventually, a system like the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) should make it easy to exchange courses internationally, since the universities involved come from all over the world.

Delft is offering 25 MOOCs now, through platform edX. At Radboud University, there are no plans to start offering MOOCs for people outside campus, says university spokesman Martijn Gerritsen. ‘All ICT applications serve education on campus. That is part of Radboud’s education philosophy: studying is something you do not do alone. This is also formulated in the university’s strategic plan.’ In the plan, the board states: ‘We have deliberately chosen the campus model. We offer a substantial number of contact hours and small-scale education, focusing on each student as an individual. We invite students to participate in discussions and to study on campus. Close contact between lecturers and students – and among students – is paramount. State-of-the-art ICT is used to reinforce educational quality.’

Web lectures are used to support the classes on campus. This strategy, called ‘flipped classroom’, means that students watch an online class to prepare for their class, so there is more room for questions and discussion. / Jozien Wijkhuijs