Enrolment for Stellenbosch University (SU)'s first free and open online course (also known as a MOOC – Massive Open Online Course) opened on Monday 18 July. Register here.
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The 4-week course which will be presented by Prof Yusef Waghid, distinguished professor in the Faculty of Education, around the theme of the African Philosophy of Education will start on 19 September. Conversations will be sparked by short pre-recorded videos, articles, activities, course readings and assessments which make up the course.
An announcement of a partnership between SU and FutureLearn, one of the world's foremost social learning platforms, was made at the 26th International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) World Conference in October last year.
"After careful planning and deliberation over the past few years, a partnership agreement was established that will allow centres of research excellence within the University that are renowned for a particular specialisation to present courses on FutureLearn," Dr Antoinette van der Merwe, Senior Director: Learning and Teaching Enhancement at SU, said after the announcement last year.
Since then, the conversations and planning continued and SU is now a full partner of FutureLearn which affords the university the opportunity to investigate a greater variety of online courses on the FutureLearn platform.
FutureLearn, the first UK-based platform for MOOCs, has over 4 million registered users from 190 countries with five million course registrations between them. SU joined a partnership of almost 80 of the world's leading universities and specialist education providers offering free online courses of the highest quality across a range of subject areas.
SU's Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement, which was tasked with overseeing the University's introduction into the MOOC arena, worked closely with Prof Waghid in the development of this first free and open online course.
The course is titled: "Teaching for change: An African philosophical approach". The focus will be on understanding teaching and learning in an African context and learning about cultivating pedagogical encounters in relation to Africa.
Prof Waghid described developing the course as an invigorating experience.
"I am excited to contribute towards SU's first MOOC in opening university access to knowledge for particularly non-traditional students. This MOOC offers opportunities for students to learn more about African pedagogical approaches, in particular regarding the cultivation of justice for all on the African continent. It is an opportunity for the university to engage with the wider world on a global scale," he added.
Dr Faiq Waghid, advisor in the Centre for Learning Technologies and MOOC project manager, said that enrolment is open for any person who wishes to gain access to university knowledge.
"This is the first MOOC of its kind and the expectation is that in excess of 4 000 students will register for the course. This is an opportunity to advance African education and Stellenbosch University is a pioneer in this regard."
For more information about Futurelearn, visit www.futurelearn.com.
