<p>As a Wesleyan parent, I think it’s great that Wesleyan is taking a leading role in Coursera, as the first liberal arts college included in the ranks of top schools to offer MOOCs through this platform.</p>
<p>Kudos to President Roth for having the foresight to get in on the ground floor with what may end up being an amazing showcase for all that Wesleyan has to offer. I believe this MOOC partnership with Coursera will be a boon for Wesleyan in a number of ways, from increased visibility and name-recognition to improving admission numbers and admit rates to enhanced prestige, alumna donation and fundraising numbers, etc.</p>
<p>I’m taking a Coursera MOOC at the moment, “Introduction to Mathematical Thinking,” produced at Stanford. It’s actually a wonderful course, very well conceived and executed. The amazing thing is that, in only its second iteration, the course really does work rather well. I’m learning, and having a blast doing so. </p>
<p><a href=“https://www.coursera.org/course/maththink[/url]”>https://www.coursera.org/course/maththink</a></p>
<p>I imagine in just a few short years we’ll see many of the kinks smoothed out of these early attempts at MOOCs, and what will emerge will be a MOOC-space that’s even more polished, useful, and successful as an educational alternative.</p>