Wednesday, May 14, 2014: EdX, the online learning initiative founded by Harvard and MIT, had announced the addition of IIT Bombay in its distinguished group of xConsortium members across the globe, last year. As a result of this partnership, IIT Bombay has launched its first three courses on the edX platform namely, Introduction to Computer Programming, Part 1, Introduction to Computer Programming, Part 2 and Thermodynamics.
These courses will help students and learners become better equipped for the hundreds of thousands of jobs across India and the world that require understanding of Computer Programming and Thermodynamics.
“We are excited to announce the launch of courses by IIT Bombay on our edX platform,” said Anant Agarwal, CEO, edX. “India is an important market for us, and is home to the largest population of edX learners outside of the United States. We are pleased that IIT Bombay has launched its courses on our platform. The Introduction to Computer Programming courses and the Thermodynamics course by IIT Bombay are excellent courses which can help learners around the world. ”
The Introduction to Programming Part 1, a 6-week course, will start on July 29th 2014 and is the first of a two-part course, and corresponds to the first half of the Computer Programming course CS101 at IIT Bombay. In this part, basic concepts of computer programming are introduced starting with the notion of an algorithm.
The Introduction to Computer Programming Part 2 course is also a 6-week course that builds on the basic foundation in computer programming; discusses structures, pointers, and file management; and ends with an introduction tothe Object Oriented Programming paradigm. It starts from September 23rd 2014, and is the second of the two-part course, and corresponds to the second half of the Computer Programming course CS101 at IIT Bombay.
The courses are being taught by Dr. Deepak B. Phatak who has been working with IIT Bombay since 1971. On the launch of these courses, he states that, a large segment of people, ranging from Junior College students to professionals, desire to understand basic programming concepts. In addition to fulfilling this requirement, these courses will help build expertise in use of C/C++.
The third course by IIT Bombay is the Thermodynamics course. It starts from July 29thand is on for 12 weeks. It is a basic course in thermodynamics, designed for students of mechanical engineering. It is being taught by Prof. Uday N. Gaitonde, Prof. Upendra Bhandarkar and Prof. M D Atrey.
Registrations for these courses have started, and more than 35,000 learners worldwide have already registered for the three courses. Students who register for these courses, will have the option to either audit the course for free (with complete access to all course material, tests, and online discussion forum), or pursue a Verified Certificate of Achievement for about Rs. 1,500/- ($25).
EdX offers more than 160 courses in many areas of study, including the arts and humanities, public health, law, math, and computer science. More than 400 faculty and staff teach on the edX platform, and over 130,000 certificates have been earned by edX students.
Please see below some of edX’s top upcoming courses:
| Course Title | School | Start Date | Description |
| AUTONAVx: Autonomous Navigation for Flying Robots | TUMx | May6th, 2014 | In this course, you will learn the basic concepts for autonomous navigation with quadrotors, including topics such as probabilistic state estimation, linear control, and path planning. |
| EECS149.1x: | UC BerkeleyX | May6th, 2014 | This course introduces students to the design and analysis of computational systems that are integrated with physical processes. |
| FPP.1x: Financial Programming and Policies, Part 1: Macroeconomic Accounts & Analysis | International Monetary Fundx | June2nd, 2014 | This is a course on the macroeconomic accounts, their interrelationships, and the analysis of economic developments. |
| TW3421x: Introduction to Statistics: Inference | UC BerkeleyX | June2nd, 2014 | This course is an introduction to statistical ideas and methods commonly used to make valid conclusions based on data from random samples. |
| MEDX202-01:Genomic Medicine Gets Personal
|
GeorgetownX | June2nd, 2014 | This course will provide an introduction to genomic medicine and a better understanding of the issues associated with personal genomic information. |
| LFS101x: Introduction to Linux | LinuxFoundationX | 3rd Quarter 2014 | This course will help you develop a good working knowledge of Linux using both the graphical interface and command line, covering the major Linux distribution families. |
| World101x: Anthropology of Current World Issues | UQx | September 1st, 2014 | This course will allow you to better understand the world around you through utilizing the anthropological lens |
| GG101x:The Science of Happiness | UC BerkeleyX | September 9th, 2014 | This is the first MOOC to teach positive psychology. Through this course you can learn science-based principles and practices for a happy, meaningful life. |
