FAQ
Wellesley President H. Kim Bottomly: How edX can change us, and bring Wellesley to the world.
Got questions?
We hope you find an answer among our responses to these frequently asked questions. These pages will be updated as details develop.
What is WellesleyX?
With WellesleyX, Wellesley College joins Harvard and MIT in the learning collaborative known as edX to bring high quality education to anyone with an Internet connection. Initially, we will offer four online courses on the edX platform that will give students the opportunity to explore subjects in the liberal arts and sciences.
What does it mean to be the first liberal arts college entering into the online learning environment?
As one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges, we’ll explore how the highly personalized, discussion-based learning experience that has been so successful at Wellesley for nearly 150 years can be translated into an online learning environment.
Is there significance in being the only woman’s college currently in the online learning space?
We believe there is no surer way of bringing positive change in the world than promoting women’s education. We’re excited to lead the way as the first women’s college to offer open access to our courses.
For more than a century, Wellesley has educated women who have made a difference in the world. Now, the edX platform allows us to reach beyond our campus to women everywhere. Imagine women in Istanbul or Jakarta taking WellesleyX courses alongside moms in Kansas City or Anchorage. If a woman has access to the Internet, she will have access to courses from the world’s premier college for women—and with those courses, the inspiration, confidence, and community to affect change in their world.
That said, men too will be able to benefit from these courses.
Why did Wellesley decide to partner with edX? Why now?
We are eager to join world-class universities that have led the way in establishing online learning—and we are intent on adding our unique liberal arts perspective to help shape the emerging online learning environment. As the first liberal arts college to join edX, we are convinced that Wellesley and its outstanding faculty have the expertise and creativity to contribute to the future of online education.
We also anticipate that this is a wonderful opportunity for our faculty to explore integrating new teaching and learning techniques into Wellesley's classroom experience.
Part of edX’s mission is to study how students learn and how technology can transform learning both on-campus and online. With Wellesley’s focus on women, we have much to contribute to this effort.
Furthermore, as online courses grow in popularity around the world, we believe that Wellesley has an immense amount to offer, particularly to women, in this new and evolving space. We’re committed to offering the best education possible to women—and edX provides us a way of reaching women far beyond our campus.
What are Wellesley's goals for WellesleyX?
To help shape the rapidly evolving online learning environment; to enhance the quality of the education that we offer on our campus; to develop and strengthen partnerships with other leaders in education; and to explore ways in which online learning might contribute to our campus-based model.
Who will teach WellesleyX courses? What will the first courses be?
We have not yet determined who will teach the first classes, but there is broad interest and enthusiasm across the faculty and academic departments, from art history to economics and from political science to environmental science.
This is a great opportunity for Wellesley's outstanding faculty to innovate. Our professors have a history of leading pedagogical innovation and they are committed to applying the dynamics of a classic liberal arts education (with its strong faculty-student relationships and small, discussion-based classes) to an online environment.
It’s also important to note that Wellesley has always had a gender-balanced faculty; in fact, women make up more than half of Wellesley’s faculty. With WellesleyX, Wellesley intends to bring that same balance to the world of online learning.
Who can take WellesleyX courses?
As soon as we launch, anyone and everyone! That’s what’s so revolutionary about this partnership. While we have not yet finalized the details of our online learning program, we expect current Wellesley students to participate, and we intend to reach students who do not have the advantage of being immersed in the Wellesley learning environment here on campus. Furthermore, we see this as a wonderful opportunity to provide access to Wellesley’s educational programs beyond graduation to our own alumnae.
Will alums have the opportunity to take these courses?
Certainly. We see Wellesley edX as a wonderful way to give our alumnae the chance to continue on the path of lifelong learning with Wellesley courses. Our alumnae will be among the first to know as soon as registration is available.
Can men take WellesleyX courses? Isn’t Wellesley’s mission all about women?
WellesleyX courses will be open to all regardless of gender. Given that Wellesley’s mission is to provide an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference, we will especially promote these courses as an opportunity for women around the world, activating our powerful network of alumnae to help spread the word.
Will Wellesley's edX classes be free of charge?
While we have not yet finalized the details around Wellesley’s online learning program, the current plan is that courses will be free of charge, which helps make top quality education accessible to all. It is our expectation that courses offered online initially will be not-for-credit.
When does Wellesley's first online semester begin?
Wellesley will offer four courses on edX, the first of which will begin in Fall 2013. We hope to finalize our initial online learning plan in the next month or so.
What are the greatest benefits you anticipate?
Wellesley will continue its tradition of innovation by participating in this rapidly evolving field—and ultimately using what we learn to develop a strategy for integrating online education into our educational model.
What’s also exciting is that this consortium will enable Wellesley to reach important new audiences—for instance, to cite one example offered by Anant Argawal, president of edX, women in Saudi Arabia who have been taking edX courses. Furthermore, Wellesley courses developed in the launch of WellesleyX will be instantly available to all women anywhere with Web access…including our entire alumnae body.
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