As reported earlier this year, the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) has launched its Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) programme, a range of free online courses that do not require any prior education or an entrance examination.

So far, more than 30.000 participants have already signed up for the first two MOOCs, which will start in September.

Who’s signing up?

Since registration opened in May, the course on "Solar Energy" has received 21.000 applications and "Introduction to Water Treatment" more than 9.000.

Applications are, however, continuing to rise and the university expects to have about 65.000 applicants by September. In comparison, TU Delft has 17.500 students on campus.

A quarter of applicants come from the United States and India, with Brazilian and Spanish applicants the next most numerous. Interestingly, there have only been 540 applications from the Netherlands so far.

Most of the applicants are in their 20s, with the youngest being 12 and the oldest 63.

How does it work?

Each course lasts for 10 weeks and can be taken by from anywhere in the world. Participants get homework assignments and, at the end, they receive a certificate of participation.

All the materials for the courses, including reading material, video recordings and sample exams, will be placed on the edX platform. The edX allows materials to be published there under an open licence, making them available for others to use.

The Solar Energy MOOC teaches, among other things, how to design a complete solar cell system, while Introduction to Water Treatment Engineering is, as stated, a general course on water treatment technology.

TU Delft will launch two more MOOCs next year: "Introduction to Aerospace Engineering" and "Next Generation Infrastructures."

Source: TU Delft