Joint Online Course
The main objectives of the original EdTech Horizons Network, which first met in 2014, were to:
- bring together IARU educators, directors and managers from IARU institutions involved or interested in education technologies with the aim of creating a collaborative network that could lead to future IARU education technology projects for member institutions.
- share ideas, initiatives, innovations, experiments, pedagogical challenges and possibilities in education technologies amongst IARU members.
The network's fruitful exchanges in its first two years led to the creation of the first IARU Joint Online Course. Launched in Fall 2016, four IARU partners agreed to develop a joint curriculum that would showcase the academic strength of IARU: Cambridge, National University of Singapore, UC Berkeley, and The University of Tokyo.
The Joint Online Course is credit-bearing, and faculty from the above institutions work together to compose the syllabus. Student groups, comprised of peers from each of the four campuses, are expected to work together on projects during a "collaboration period" that stretches over six weeks. During this time, student groups interact extensively with course instructors and work together on group assignments. The Joint Online Course provides an opportunity for students to discuss global issues from the unique perspectives of citizens from different areas around the world.
The third cycle of the Joint Online Course will begin in Fall 2018.