VOA慢速英语2012 Education Report - More Universities Offer Free Online Courses

（单词翻译）

 

Education Report - More Universities Offer Free Online Courses

 

教育报道 - 更多高校提供免费网络课程

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。

Earlier this year, we reported on the growth of massive open online courses, or MOOCs. These higher education courses are mostly free and, so far, largely in technical areas like computer science. MOOCs are usually open to anyone and can have thousands of students around the world.

今年早些时候，我们曾报道过大规模开放网络课程（简称MOOCs）的增长情况。这些高等教育课程大多是免费的，到目前为止，主要是在像计算机科学这样的技术领域开设。 MOOCs通常面向所有人开放，而且可以容纳世界各地数千名学生。

Entrepreneurs and educators are studying the different business possibilities. One idea is to make money by offering credits or certificates to students willing to pay. Another is to charge employers for connecting them with students who get top scores on online tests.

一些创办人和教育工作者正在研究这种课程的各种商机。一种想法是为愿意付钱的学生提供学分或证书。另一种是通过为雇主联系在线测试最高分的学生来向雇主收费。

Some top universities are starting to offer their own MOOCs. For example, this week the University of California, Berkeley, announced it has joined a nonprofit enterprise called edX. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology started edX and have each invested thirty million dollars.

一些一流大学已经开始提供自己的MOOCs。例如，加州大学伯克利分校本周宣布它已加入一个叫做edX的非营利组织。edX是由哈佛大学和麻省理工学院合作创建，并分别投资3000万美元。

This fall, Berkeley will offer two of the seven free courses on the edX platform: Artificial Intelligence and Software as a Service. Berkeley will also work with edX to get more universities involved. Schools that offer courses on the edX platform will be called "X Universities."

今年秋季，伯克利分校将在edX平台上提供7门免费课程中的两门：人工智能和软件即服务。伯克利分校也与edX一起努力，让更多的大学参与进来。在edX平台上提供课程的学校将被称为“X大学。”

MIT professor Anant Agarwal is the president of edX, and he helped develop an electrical engineering course for the fall. He says the goal is to reinvent education worldwide and on campus. Berkeley Chancellor¹ Robert Birgeneau made similar comments as he expressed a commitment to "excellence² in online education." He says the goals are to bring higher education to more people and to enrich the quality of campus-based education. And he said he believes that working with the not-for-profit model of edX is the best way to do that.

麻省理工学院教授阿纳特·阿加瓦尔（Anant Agarwal）是edX首任主席，他帮助开发了一个秋季开课的电气工程课程。他说，我们的目标是重塑全球的在校课程。伯克利分校校长罗伯特·伯格诺（Robert Birgeneau）作出了类似的意见，他承诺“在线教育一样优秀。”他称，目标是为更多的人带来更高的教育，提高校园基础教育的质量。而且他认为，与非营利典范edX工作，是做到这点的最佳途径。 

EdX faces for-profit competitors. One is Udacity, co-founded by Sebastian Thrun at Stanford University. Another is Coursera, started by two other Stanford computer scientists, Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng. In fact, some Berkeley professors have been teaching free courses through Coursera. Coursera started with four universities and last week announced a big expansion for the fall.

edX面临着与营利组织的竞争。一个是Udacity，由斯坦福大学塞巴斯蒂安·史朗（Sebastian Thrun）共同创办的。另一个是Coursera，由其他两个斯坦福大学计算机科学家，达芙妮·科勒（Daphne Koller）和安德鲁·恩格（Andrew Ng）创办。实际上，一些伯克利分校的教授已经通过Coursera教授免费课程。 Coursera已经联合了四所大学，然而Coursera上周宣布，将在今年秋季进行大扩张。

One of the new partners is the University of Virginia. Just last month its popular president, Teresa Sullivan, had to resign. The governing board forced her out in part over suggestions that she was not moving fast enough into this new world of online education. But two weeks later, after campus protests, the board rehired her.

新的合作伙伴之一是弗吉尼亚大学。就在上个月，其受欢迎校长特瑞萨·沙利文（Teresa Sullivan）不得不辞职。董事会撤掉沙利文，某种程度上是考虑她还没有尽快适应网络课程这一新领域。但两周后，经历了校园抗议活动，董事会返聘了她。

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Steve Ember.