The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is pleased to join the X University Consortium of edX (xConsortium), the not-for-profit online learning initiative comprised of leading global institutions founded by Harvard University and MIT. The University is one of the first Asian institutions to join the xConsortium to deliver the next generation of online and blended courses.
HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan said, "We at HKUST are delighted to join the xConsortium, the international online learning enterprise to provide world-class courses and a superior educational experience to anyone who is eager to learn. Further to our partnership with Coursera's online education platform last year as one of its first Asian partners, we are once again demonstrating our commitment to contributing to the global development of online learning as an international research university dedicated to excellence in education and research."
HKUST, together with University of Hong Kong, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Kyoto University, and Seoul National University are Asian partners being added to the xConsortium. Other new prestigious higher education institutions joining the network today are Berklee College of Music, Boston University, Cornell University, Davidson College, University of Washington, Université catholique de Louvain, Technical University of Munich, and University of Queensland. These will join founding universities MIT and Harvard, as well as University of California, Berkeley, University of Texas System, Wellesley College, Georgetown University, McGill University, Australian National University, University of Toronto, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Delft University of Technology and Rice University. With this, the xConsortium is bringing the total number of its member institutions to 26.
While MOOCs, or massive open online courses, have typically focused on offering a variety of online courses inexpensively or free, edX has a bigger vision to build an open-source educational platform and a network of the world's top universities with the best talent to improve education, both online and on campus, while conducting research on how students learn. To date, edX has more than 900,000 registered users on its platform, more than one million course enrollments. Courses will be hosted on edX's open-source platform at www.edx.org.
About the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (www.ust.hk) is a world-class international research university excelling in science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. Internationally renowned for its academic rigor and accomplishments, the University promotes interdisciplinary studies and provides holistic education, nurturing well-rounded graduates with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, innovative thinking and relevant skills to thrive in a knowledge economy. As an international university with strong ties to global thought leaders, HKUST has wide-ranging connections with Mainland China while aspiring to be a global premier knowledge hub and a center of research breakthroughs. HKUST was ranked Asia's number one for the second year in a row in QS Asian University Rankings 2011 and 2012. It was placed third for the world's under-50 universities in 2012. The Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA (EMBA) program, for the fourth straight year, topped the Financial Times EMBA global rankings.
About edX
edX is a not-for-profit enterprise comprised of 20+ leading global institutions, the xConsortium. Founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, edX is focused on transforming online and on-campus learning through groundbreaking methodologies, game-like experiences and cutting-edge research on an open-source platform. edX provides inspirational and transformative knowledge to students of all ages, social status, and income who form worldwide communities of learners. edX is focused on people, not profit, and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA.
For media enquiries, please feel free to contact :
Kit Yip
Tel: 2358 6313
Email: kityip@ust.hk
