More than 260 participants from more than 40 foreign countries attend the UT's first MOOC
The first-ever MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) to be taught at the University of Tartu opened on Monday 3 March. The UT's first MOOC course "Estimation of measurement uncertainty in chemical analysis", led by Professor Ivo Leito, has enjoyed considerable popularity, attracting more than 260 participants from more than 40 countries.
The course on "Estimation of measurement uncertainty in chemical analysis", taught in English during the 2014 spring semester, is open to all interested participants. It was developed by Ivo Leito, UT Professor of Analytical Chemistry, together with Research Fellows Lauri Jalukse and Irja Helm. The result of their work is a comprehensive online learning tool which can be used for individual study: there are twelve modules worth of material available online, including video lectures, schemes, tables and calculations, accompanying text to the videos and plenty of self-testing assignments.
According to Professor Ivo Leito, the popularity of the course surpassed all expectations: "We were hoping to get over 100 participants, but presently there are more than 260. This shows that the estimation of measurement uncertainty, which in itself is a fairly specific topic, is useful and interesting to people engaged in analytical chemistry."
UT Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Martin Hallik sees a good MOOC as a simple and clear presentation of a subject or problem in a comprehensive manner: "A good MOOC concentrates on a clearly specified topic leaving the unnecessary aside. It facilitates and accelerates the teaching of a number of subjects." Hallik stated that MOOC is also a great advertisement for both the speciality as well as for the university as a whole: "A MOOC can serve as a magnet to attract the best students from both Estonia as well as from all over the world."
MOOCs are free online courses that are mostly offered by the world’s top universities (including the University of Cambridge, Stanford University, etc) together with feedback, examination, and certificate of completion. The launch of the first MOOC at UT may be seen as joining the select "club" of such universities. Those who successfully pass a MOOC at UT obtain useful knowledge and skills and receive a certificate from the University of Tartu without the costly travel to Estonia.
The first MOOC at the University of Tartu is attended by 265 participants from 43 countries, including Sweden, Ghana, Serbia, Spain, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, USA, Iceland, India, UK, Romania, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Germany, Turkey, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brazil, Nepal, Bulgaria, Poland and Finland.
The description and the complete set of study materials of the course are available on the course's website at: https://sisu.ut.ee/measurement.
For more information: Ivo Leito, UT Professor of Analytical Chemistry, phone: 518 4176, e-mail: ivo.leito [ät] ut.ee.