While the entrepreneurial spirit that led to the Coursera agreement is typical of how many new programs are introduced to the University, the late-breaking nature of the announcement illustrated for many how decentralized the efforts are to integrate emerging technologies into the classroom at UVA. “I think it’s fair to say that work was going on that some members of senior administration may not have known about.” “I applaud the president, deans, and faculty members for their efforts and results,” University Rector Helen Dragas (Col ’84, Darden ’88) told the Washington Post after the Coursera partnership was announced. The College of Arts & Sciences and the Darden School had for months been looking into ways to offer a sampling of UVA classes through MOOCs however, their negotiations with Coursera seemed to come as a pleasant surprise to Sullivan and members of the Board. ![]() The board initially sought her resignation in part because some members believed Sullivan was not moving UVA fast enough into online education. ![]() The university announced its agreement with Coursera in July, within days of President Teresa Sullivan’s reinstatement by the Board of Visitors. A total of more than 60,000 students have signed up for the University’s five courses. The move to Coursera, a for-profit company considered the leader in providing massive online open courses, or MOOCs, vastly expands UVA’s online reach. “I tend to get interested in new ventures and taking risks.” “This will reach people who otherwise have very little exposure to science at all, let alone physics,” Bloomfield says. ![]() Bloomfield-one of five UVA professors who will teach a noncredit Coursera class next year-envisions an interactive class where thousands of students will watch videos of him explaining the physics of a bicycle as he rides one.
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