DartmouthX: Going Live This Week

The first DartmouthX open online course offering, “Introduction to Environmental Science” with Professor Andrew Friedland, opened its pre-course material on Jan. 27, and the six-week course will begin Feb. 3.

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During the course, Professor Andrew Friedland will lead students on an exploration of the field of environmental science. (Photo courtesy of Dartmouth’s Media Production Group)

Last week, participants in the course logged on to watch the first video segment and create online identities for themselves.

Of the course’s start, Friedland, the Richard and Jane Pearl Professor in Environmental Studies, says, “It was awfully similar to the first day of classes at Dartmouth. People were excitedly introducing themselves, asking questions about what the course will cover, and getting to know the edX platform.”

The course has drawn registrants from Mongolia, Sierra Leone, India, Mexico, Portugal, and all over the United States—including an enthusiastic response from alumni. “Former students have signed up. And I received an email from a high school friend I hadn’t heard from in 30 years,” Friedland says. “Our course team can’t wait for Feb. 3, when the first week of course content is made available to more than 7,000 students from 150 countries.”

Related:

• First DartmouthX Course Prepares to Launch
• Video: Introduction to Environmental Science
• First DartmouthX Online Course With edX Ready for Students

While the first DartmouthX course is under way, the second, Thayer School of Engineering Associate Professor Vicki May’s online course, “The Engineering of Structures Around Us,” which will start in May, has just opened for registration.

Two others are expected to launch during the next 12 months: an introduction to opera, taught by Professor Steve Swayne, chair of the music department, and literature of the American Renaissance, with Don Pease, the Ted and Helen Geisel Third Century Professor in the Humanities, and James “Jed” Dobson, a lecturer in writing.

Read a blog about the making of the DartmouthX projects and follow the progress of DartmouthX at http://dartmouthx.dartmouth.edu/.