Open online course TU Delft on water treatment starts with 21,000 participants

On Monday 16 September the free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC's) of the Technical University of Delft are expected to start with around 65,000 participants.

So far 21,000 people have registered for the open course Intorudction to water treatment. Some 42.000 have reghistered for a similar course on Solar Energy.

The kick off for both MOOCs will take place during a meeting on 16 September at 13.30. The course materials for the first week will be online from then on.

Part of bachelor's degree programme
The MOOCs are based on introductory courses that are already taught as part of Bachelor's degree programmes at TU Delft. The MOOCs offer anyone, anywhere in the world free online access to TU Delft’s knowledgebase.

Anyone can follow the courses, without prior education or entrance exams. MOOCs are offered during a fixed period of ten weeks and with opportunities to interact with fellow students. Participants will receive homework assignments and they can conclude the course with a certificate of participation.

Introduction to water treatment
More than 21,000 people have registered for the 'Introduction to Water Treatment' MOOC, a course on the basic principles of water treatment technology. Jules van Lier and Anke Grefte are busy making the final preparations for this MOOC.

Jules van Lier: "It is very encouraging to receive registrations from all across the world; not only from Western countries but also from developing countries, where there is considerable room for improvement with regard to both drinking water and wastewater treatment".

The course looks at the urban provisions for drinking and waste water that we use in the Netherlands, with a focus on basic techniques and indicators for simple designs.

Entire world
TU Delft has received registrations from people with many different nationalities. The four most common countries of origin are the United States, India, Brazil and Spain. To date, around 1,000 people have registered from the Netherlands. The majority of participants are in their twenties; the oldest is 70.

Educational innovation
TU Delft offers the MOOCs via edX, an online learning platform through which, since 2012, MIT, Harvard and other educational institutes have made courses available to anyone who has access to the internet. One of the reasons why TU Delft has chosen edX is because the materials can be published there under an open licence, making them available for others to use. It is also a non-profit initiative with a focus on educational innovation.

More MOOCs to follow
Next spring TU Delft will be launching two more MOOCs: 'Introduction to Aerospace Engineering' and 'Next Generation Infrastructures'. Increasing numbers of renowned universities are publishing courses as MOOCs on edX or other platforms.

Online education makes it possible to teach large groups and TU Delft believes that it is important to start gaining experience with these methods and investigating their potential.

This news item was originally published on the website of Technical University of Delft.

More information
Technical University of Delft
section Sanitary Engineering
Delft, the Netherlands
+31 15 2783347
http://www.citg.tudelft.nl/en

To MOOC Water treatment click here.

Watch the 'Introduction to Water Treatment' introduction video with professors Luuk Rietveld (on drinking water treatment) and Jules van Lier (on waste water treatment)