Students, staff and faculty members at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) will be able to obtain free certificates for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by HKUST on Coursera, under a pilot scheme between this major MOOC platform and several selected universities – with HKUST being the only institution from Asia.
The waiver in certificate charges – ranging between US$70 to US$600 (approximately HK$546 – HK$4,680), not only applies to individual courses taught by HKUST faculty members, but also specialization certificates which cover a cluster of courses under specific themes such as Business English for non-native speakers and information technology. Learners granted the certificates would have attained certain level of knowledge on the course subject or specialization, which could be proven by attendance, assignments or examinations, depending on the course nature. At present, HKUST is offering 33 courses on the Coursera platform, spanning Fintech, developing mobile apps and Chinese politics, and the list is growing. The pilot scheme is set to promote e-learning and assist learners who wish to pursue knowledge through online learning platforms. Other universities participated in this scheme are the University of Michigan, the University of California, San Diego and Duke University from the US.
Prof. PONG Ting-Chuen, Director of Center for Engineering Education Innovation said, “HKUST has been one of the global leading pioneers in advancing e-learning through rapidly developing and innovating new approaches to deliver courses. Anyone who has connection to the internet can learn cutting-edge knowledge with our faculty at any time and in anywhere. We are proud to be – once again – the first in Asia to be part of this pilot program. Now, for eager HKUST learners, they can choose to take courses that are of the most relevant today and receive a widely recognized certificate free of charge.”
Coursera is a pioneer that partners with world-class universities and organizations globally to provide MOOCs. HKUST first collaborated with Coursera in 2012.
Deanna RAINERI, the Chief Academic Strategist at Coursera said, “We believe that bringing the value of high-quality online education to on-campus students, faculty, and staff, is one of the next big innovations in higher education. Coursera for Partners is a program that allows our university partners to offer their own courses on Coursera to their campus communities for free as a supplement to their on-campus coursework. We are excited to partner with HKUST, one of our most forward-thinking university partners, to pilot this program in Asia.”
For more information, please visit HKUST’s Coursera platform: https://coursera.org/programs/coursera-for-hkust-yetdg
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 research university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2018. Its graduates were ranked 12th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global Employability University Survey 2017.
About Coursera
Coursera is the world’s largest online learning platform for higher education. Over 170 of the world’s top universities and industry educators partner with Coursera to offer courses, specializations, and degrees that empower over 35 million learners around the world to achieve their career goals. Over 1,400 organisations use Coursera for Business to transform their talent. Coursera is backed by leading venture capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, New Enterprise Associates, GSV Capital, International Finance Corporation, Laureate Education Inc., and Learn Capital.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Anita Lam
Tel : 2358 6313
Email: anitalam@ust.hk
Johnny Tam
Tel : 2358 8556
Email : johnnytam@ust.hk
