MicroMasters: the pursuit of the Holy Grail in online learning

MicroMasters: the pursuit of the Holy Grail in online learning

Barbosa De Almeida Cabral, P.M. (TU Delft OLD Production & Delivery)
Ribeiro Jorge, N. (TU Delft OLD Production & Delivery)
van Valkenburg, W.F. (TU Delft OLD Production & Delivery)

Ubachs, George (editor)
Konings, Lizzie (editor)

2017-10

In the MOOC world new concepts hatch every month, trying to find the Holy Grail of online learning. Last year edX adopted the new MIT concept of a MicroMasters credential: a series of graduate level courses offered by top universities to advance their career. The credential is credit-eligible and can accelerate a Master’s Degree if the learner is admitted.
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) decided to join this new development after an extensive elaboration on TU Delft’s online course design, educational and assessment policies, involvement of stakeholders inside and outside the organization and the underlying business model.
The aim of this paper is to describe the lessons learnt in this process (adoption, development and running of the MicroMaster), its implications on TU Delft’s ambitions in open and online learning and the effect on campus programme admission and enrolment. This paper will focus on the Solar Energy Engineering MicroMasters, a programme of four MOOCs and a capstone project. Learners following the whole
programme and successfully finish their exam receive a MicroMasters credential. Learners who apply to the Master of Science program Sustainable Energy Technology (SET) or the Master of Science program Electrical Engineering (track: Electrical Power Engineering) holding this credential, can send a formal ECTS waiver request to get accepted for part of the on campus Master Programme at TU Delft.

MOOC
MicroMasters
open education
online education
accreditation
inverted admission
credits

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:47d74e35-856c-4f74-b48f-e8f07329652e

European Association of Distance Teaching Universities

978-90-79730-29-2

Proceedings of The Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference: Higher Education for the Future; “Accelerating and Strengthening Innovation”

The Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference, 2017-10-25 → 2017-10-27, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Institutional Repository

conference paper

© 2017 P.M. Barbosa De Almeida Cabral, N. Ribeiro Jorge, W.F. van Valkenburg