Gates Foundation Announces $3M in Grants for MOOCs

Financing

Gates Foundation Announces $3M in Grants for MOOCs

Nov 13, 2012

GATES OPEN FOR MOOCS: Coursera continues to make headlines with a partnership with the American Council on Education (ACE), which will look at 8 to 10 online courses and determine whether any should be eligible for credit at traditional colleges. In an interview with Forbes, co-founder Andrew Ng indicated certification exams might be offered via laptop for a small fee. In-person proctored exams haven't been ruled out, but Coursera is hoping to replicate the experience through a web cam to reach all of its geographically-dispersed student population.

ACE, which represents over 1,800 post-secondary institutions in the U.S., has for decades offered certification for training courses, which the NYTimes reports are accepted by 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities. It's work with Coursera is part of a larger Gates Foundation effort, backed by over $3 million in newly-announced grants, to study the efficacy and implementation of MOOC-related projects.

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